This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING— www.picklepartnerspublishing.com To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – [email protected] Or on Facebook Text originally published in 1960 under the same title. © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder. Publisher’s Note Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit. We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible. BLACK THURSDAY by MARTIN CAIDIN DRAWINGS BY FRED L. WOLFF TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOGRAPHS DRAWINGS MAPS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOREWORD PROLOGUE PART I — BACKGROUND TO THE MISSION Chapter I — BOLERO, SICKLE, CBO Chapter II — SCHWEINFURT Importance of Bearings to the Economy Concentration of Industry Recovery Difficulties Chapter III — THE LUFTWAFFE PART II — THE MISSION BEGINS Chapter IV — FIRST MOTION Chapter V — NOTES SELECTED AT RANDOM Chapter VI — THE BRIEFINGS Chapter VII — “A BRIGHT GREEN FLARE.” Chapter VIII — AIRBORNE Chapter IX — “YOU WORK UP THERE…” Chapter X — FIRST BLOOD PART III — ATTACK Chapter XI — LINE PLUNGE THROUGH CENTER Chapter XII — THE UNNAMED Chapter XIII — A QUEEN DIES HARD Chapter XIV — SCHWEINFURT BELOW Chapter XV — HOW THE GERMANS FOUGHT Chapter XVI — TIME HACK Chapter XVII — THE TRAIN TRAVELER Chapter XVIII — THE FORTS COME HOME PART IV —THE SUMMING UP Chapter XIX — THE BOMBING: EVALUATION Chapter XX — IN THIS WE FAILED EPILOGUE REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER APPENDIX MAPS DEDICATION In Memory of KEITH M, GARRISON Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, whose third combat mission was Number 115, Schweinfurt, 14 October 1943. Died 1 February 1960 in the crash of his B-52 bomber. ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOGRAPHS B-17 Flying Fortresses moving into Germany The silent enemy—fog Extremely rare flying phenomenon: B-17’s with three separate contrails — from engines, propeller tips, and wingtips B-17 Bombers of 381st Bomb Group, VIII Bomber Command Armada into German skies Colonel Budd J. Peaslee, U.S.A.A.F., who led the raid against Schweinfurt, October 14, 1943 Fortresses swinging onto final bomb run for Schweinfurt En route to target: Me-110 fighter attacking Schweinfurt below: bombs exploding on Kugelfìscher ball bearing plant and on VKF-1 Final B-17’s pass by Schweinfurt. City and factories are burning Fortresses of the 100th Bomb Group found much of target area obscured by bomb explosions, flame from burning factories Its left wing torn off in flames, a burning Fortress goes down over Germany Fortresses over Schweinfurt, October 14, 1943 The crews come home Some of the men had to be carried out of the battered Fortresses Returning bombers were mangled, chewed up by cannon shells, rockets Badly wounded gunner is rushed from stretcher to ambulance Two men in the nose killed instantly, power lines ruptured, plexiglas blown away, nose and engines riddled —but she came home She brought home her ten men Colonel H. M. Mason, 1st Wing Engineering Officer, performed miracles patching together crippled B- 17’s Captured German photos of B-17 crew members shot down, killed in the crash of their Fortress Kugelfischer works after the raid The city of Schweinfurt After the great raid, the bombers had to come back again and again DRAWINGS Messerschmitt Me-110 Messerschmitt Me-109G Some ships never made the mission. “Something” went wrong with a bomb Last check of tail turret before take-off B-17G, crew positions Emergency landing; six men got out Taxiing out… “Take off! Take off!” Combat box, staggered formation, side view Combat box, staggered formation, head-on view “Little friend”—Thunderbolt escort fighter Focke-Wulf FW-190 “We didn’t see any chutes…! Into German skies... Mangled, torn, shot to pieces, the Forts came home Queen of the bombers… B-17F Flying Fortress Bomb release Junkers Ju-88 modified for killer missions Messerschmitt Me-110, twin- engine fighter mainstay “Me-210 diving away from three o’clock…” Top turret, B-17 bomber “Me-109G, last seen burning, diving away. Damaged.” “One FW-190. Confirmed destroyed.” MAPS Mission 115, up to 1440 hours Mission 115, from 1440 to 1630 hours ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful to Colonel Budd J. Peaslee, United States Air Force, Retired, who spared no effort to assist me in the task of bringing this epochal air battle back to life. As the air commander of Mission 115, the daylight bombing attack on Schweinfurt, Germany, on October 14, 1943, Colonel Peaslee’s contribution is unique. Both as a fighting man and as an observer, he is rich in emotion, courage, and understanding. Without his unselfish assistance and suggestions and kind permission to study and quote from the manuscript of his recollections of the attack, this book would not have been possible. As with any such project, of course, many other people have also contributed greatly to it. My sincere thanks to Beime Lay, Jr., formerly Lieutenant Colonel, U.S.A.A.F., a great combat pilot and a gifted writer of the air. The staff of the Research Studies Institute, Air University, United States Air Force, have also spared no pains in their close cooperation; among them I wish to extend my thanks particularly to Margaret Kennedy and to Colonel Laurence Macauley, U.S.A.F. I am no less grateful for the aid of Dr. Albert F. Simpson, chief, U.S.A.F. Historical Division, who has brought to the documentation of the history of air warfare remarkable skill and knowledge of the subject. For many hours spent in the air with him, in airplanes small and large, and for his patience and skill as a teacher, my thanks to the late Lieutenant Colonel Keith M. Garrison, U.S.A.F. Keith Garrison was in a B-17 on Mission 115; the machine in which he flew his last mission, seventeen years later, was the mighty B-52 of the Strategic Air Command. I am grateful for the ready assistance and suggestions of Carl B. McCamish and of H. M. Mason, Jr., who have always supported and aided my projects. Major Raymond Houseman over the last several years has kept up his own private project to accumulate material for this book, and I owe much to him for his efforts. These acknowledgments would be far from complete if they did not express, finally, my gratitude to Major James F. Sunderman, U.S.A.F., who has worked for many years with me on airpower