This is an amazing photo of the 306th Bombardment Group illustrates how tough the 8th Air Force’s mission was in World War II. You can see the weather front in the distance, total cloud cover at 9,000 feet. The primary target that day was the Schweinfurt ball bearing works and 230 B-17s were dispatched. 60 aircraft hit the primary target using radar bombing.
The lead group notified notified those following of the cloud cover over the primary, and they diverted to the day’s secondary, the Frankfurt am Main rail yards. They hit the rail yards at 0943 through 10/10 cloud cover from 21,000 feet bombing with radar. Since visual observation was impossible, strike photos were unable to show the accuracy of the bombing that day.
The bombers that hit Frankfurt incurred no losses that day, fortunately. The Schweinfurt raiders suffered 3 B-17s lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 68 damaged; casualties are 14 KIA, 1 WIA and 30 MIA. The large black puff must be a Flak burst. The 306th AAR characterized the Flak that day as light and inaccurate, and none of the aircraft that hit Frankfurt were lost.
Schweinfurt was a critical target since it was home to the ball bearing works that were essential for Germany’s war production. The city was heavily defended by both heavy Flak batteries and fighter squadrons.
Among 8th Air Force combat crews, the name Schweinfurt was enough to make even the bravest airman swallow hard. Only Berlin was more heavily defended. To the great fortune of the 8th Air Force crews that day, the bad weather not only inhibited accurate bombing, but also the ability of the Germans to see the attackers. The 306th was the first heavy bomber group to achieve operational status in World War II. Flying out of RAF Thurleigh in Bedforshire, the group earned two Presidential Unit Citations was the longest-serving 8th Air Force bomber unit. It served in Europe from September 1942 through December 1945
Never forget, Mark