sourced story
14 October 1943Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Black Thursday over Schweinfurt shows bombers cannot fly deep into Germany alone

Sixty B-17s lost in a single raid because American fighters ran out of fuel 200 miles from the target

On the timeline · around 14 October 1943 · The Tide TurnsThe Tide TurnsAllied VictoryBlack Thursday over Schweinfurt shows bombers cannot fly deep into Germany alone1944

Quick facts

Target
Ball-bearing factories, Schweinfurt, Germany
Date
14 October 1943
Bombers dispatched
291 B-17s
Bombers lost
60 destroyed, 17 written off
Aircrew casualties
Over 600, about 20 percent of those who flew
Fix
P-51 Mustang long-range escort, operational in numbers by early 1944

What happened

On 14 October 1943, 291 US Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses set out to strike Schweinfurt's ball-bearing factories a second time, following a costly August raid on the same target. American P-47 Thunderbolt escorts could only accompany the bombers for the first 200 miles before their fuel range forced them to turn back, leaving the formation to fly the remaining 200 miles to the target and back without any fighter cover at all. German fighters, flying from their own home airfields, had time to land, refuel, rearm, and attack the bomber stream again and again. The raid cost 60 B-17s destroyed outright and another 17 damaged beyond repair, with more than 600 aircrew killed, wounded, or missing, nearly 20 percent of the men who had flown the mission, a loss rate the Eighth Air Force could not sustain.

Why it matters

Black Thursday forced American air planners to stop scheduling deep raids into Germany until a fighter existed that could escort bombers the entire way. That aircraft, the P-51 Mustang, entered service in numbers by early 1944 and let the Eighth Air Force return to Schweinfurt that February with continuous fighter cover from takeoff to landing, a change that also let American fighters start hunting the Luftwaffe itself instead of only defending bombers.

How we know

Eighth Air Force mission reports document exact aircraft and crew losses for the October 1943 raid, and the timeline of the P-51's entry into escort service is recorded in Army Air Forces unit histories.

Sources

See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.

Part of a timelineWorld War II101 events · From a staged skirmish at a bridge outside Beijing to a charter signed in San Francisco, the deadliest conflict in history, every event sourced.View all →
Black Thursday over Schweinfurt shows bombers cannot fly deep into Germany alone · World War II · SourcedStory