Schweinfurt: The Mission All Pilots Hated

An aerial view of Schweinfurt during the raids in 1943.
Photo sourced from wikicommons.

One of the hallmarks of World War II is the image of massive bomber formations heading into Germany to bomb factories and cities in order to cripple the German war machine and destroy morale. However, these missions were fraught with peril from anti-air flak on the ground and enemy fighters in the air. One such mission was more perilous than most, but the target was vital, if not immediately obvious as to its importance. The factories at Schweinfurt made extremely vital, immensely important...ball bearings.

These ball bearings, however, really were vital in the German war effort, especially in their aircraft production and specifically in the manufacture of airplane engines. It was thought that the destruction of the Schweinfurt factory would cripple the German aircraft industry and promote Allied air superiority.

However, this raid earned a reputation in its first incarnations. In August and October of 1943, the Allies did two raids on Schweinfurt with over 200 bombers per raid. Normally, the acceptable amount of battle losses for a bomber mission is below 10 percent. On these raids, the casualty rates were as high as 30 percent. After the October raid, strategic bombing in Europe was suspended for four months to recover from the losses.

Schweinfurt would be visited again and again until the factory was destroyed, costing the Germans 25 percent of their entire ball bearing making capability. However, lack of proper intelligence and no air superiority fo rthe Allies meant that these raids were the most costly and the most infamous of the war. Until next time take care, and thanks for reading.

(Facts and figures sourced from "Campaigns of World War II Day by Day" by Chris Bishop and Chris McNab)