An Ambitious Double Raid
August 17th, 1943, was the first anniversary of the start of the Eighth US Air Force’s strategic bombing campaign against Germany. To commemorate the event, the Eighth carried out an ambitious twin raid, intended to cripple the German aircraft industry.
The idea was to launch two simultaneous aerial attacks against two vital targets, in order to confuse and divide German air defenses. It was hoped that the Luftwaffe’s fighters would be dispersed, and their effectiveness thus reduced, if they had to protect both targets rather than concentrate against one bomber force.
The targets chosen were Regensburg, a center for Bf 109 fighter production, and Schweinfurt, which housed most of Germany’s ball-bearing industry. Both targets were beyond Allied fighter range. Accordingly, the bombers would be escorted only part of the way, then continue on their own without fighter protection. The Schweinfurt force would return to its bases in England after the raid.
To further confuse the Germans, however, the Regensburg force would fly south after dropping its bombs, continue over the Alps and across the Mediterranean, and land in airbases in Algeria and Tunisia. There, after they refitted, refueled, and rearmed, the bombers would return to England a few a days later, and bomb targets in Nazi-occupied France on their way back.
