24. 1943 Was a Terrible Year for American Heavy Bombers in Europe
The summer of 1943 was a terrible time for American bombers in the European Theater of Operations, and August was especially bad. The month began with the Ploesti raid, which as seen above, devastated the American attackers in exchange for damage that was quickly repaired. Little more than two weeks later, another disastrous raid followed. August 17th, 1943, was the first anniversary of the US Eighth Air Force’s commencement of its strategic bombing campaign. To commemorate it, American air commanders decided upon an ambitious attack intended to cripple the German aircraft industry.
The plan was to launch not one raid, but two simultaneous attacks against two separate targets vital to the Germans. It was hoped that if the missions were conducted at the same time, they would confuse and divide German air defenses. The Luftwaffe’s fighters would be forced to split up in order to protect both targets, instead of concentrating against a single bomber force. The targets chosen were Regensburg, a center for the production of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, and Schweinfurt, which housed most of Germany’s ball-bearing industry. As seen below, things did not go as planners had hoped they would.
