Schweinfurt
"As itself the fog had finally so far cleared that we could start, must the 3rd Division Regensburg have already attacked and on the way to Africa have been. Instead of deceiving the German interceptor fleet and in the consequence to zerstreuen, the division had alarmed only the German raiding party and in readiness had shifted.
In approximately 1,000 feet height we pushed by the fog cover and flew then at a value of 23.000 feet on the continent too. A close cloud layer, which extended from 17.000 feet to 27,000 feet, blocked us the way. If we wanted to remain together, we could not in-fly there. Colonel Gross, which led the 1st Division, had to make a heavy decision: One could fly over the clouds and the risk accept that also the goal would then be covered by the clouds, one could another course take or the cloud cover fly underneath. Sense of the flight altitude of 23.000 feet was, the German interceptors, the Messerschmitt and the Focke Wulfs to meet at a weak point. On 16.000 feet or 17,000 feet was the German hunters on the flight altitude optimal for it."
And exactly into this elevator volume directed Colonel Gross his bombers. That was the drop, which brought the barrel to overflowing.
The dreadful bloodbath took here its beginning. Gross' formation lost 10 airplanes due to the wrong decision of its leader in only 5 minutes. The Americans however were armed with eleven 12.7 mm machine guns per airplane heavily and flew to protecting box - formations. At the end of the daily one could not speak after the destruction of 288 hostile airplanes truly of an easy victory, besides was this balance somewhat probably exaggerated. Only which one is exactly white, the number of the Flying Fortresses, which were met thereby - altogether 147. 60 was never again seen. 27 was so strongly damaged that they, although it succeeded to them to return again to the base had to be copied. And 60 reached North Africa in a condition, which made a repair impossible locally.
The first attack wave did not have it meanwhile more easily. A pilot, who flew protected position in the latter and thus to few in the formation, tells: "we constantly ran the risk that our airplane was met by falling down rubble. Emergency exit hatches, doors, too early opened parachutes, people and wreck parts of B-17 or German airplanes went past in the wake at us. We flew on, followed this cruel trace of a desperate aerial combat, where after airplane other exploded and even sixty parachutes at one time were not in air anything unusual."
A salvo received the "X Virgin" into the fuselage center, which killed one gunners. Four men bailed out, so that the most important crew members had still sufficient oxygen, in order to fly and the bombs off to throw be able to their target. When the releasing mechanism of the bombs wedged, wounded gunner the handles loosened with a screwdriver and jumped then on the bombs, until they fell out.