"Alice from Dallas" and the Infamous Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid
Exactly a year after the bombing of Rouen, France, which marked the first raid of the 8th Air Force on the ETO, VIII Bomber Command planners were working on deeper penetrations into Germany and especially a complex attack to split in half the German defenses.
Initially, the attack was to target Wiener Neustadt and Regensburg on August 7th, 1943. Due to bad weather, the raid was aborted and the Regensburg strike force, dispatched from England, was not able to take-off. Instead, B-24 bombers from Africa bombed Wiener Neustadt on August 13rd and caught the German by surprise due to the long distance involved. Supposedly one of the most heavily defended area in Europe, this certainly has something to do with the overconfidence of US planners regarding deep, unescorted bombing missions into Germany.
They therefore continue to develop a plan to target simultaneously two major German industries, in accordance with the "Casablanca Directive" (21/01/1943) and the "Pointblank Directive" (14/06/1943). The Messerschmitt factories in Regensburg and the ball-bearing industry in Schweinfurt were deemed to represent the most strategic and vital targets at that time.
A first strike force of 146 B-17Fs lead by Col. Le May were to he headed for the former, as they were equipped with long-range 'Tokyo tanks', bomb the plants and then turn south and head for North Africa. Perhaps one of the most important change made during the B-17F production was the increase of fuel capacity from 1,730 to 2,810 US gallons of fuel thanks to the adjonction of 9 bladder fuel cells in each wing outboard of the engines. These additional tanks added almost 1,000 miles of range under certain combat conditions, and allowed the equipped B-17 to go farther into Germany than ever before.
This first task force going for Regensburg was composed of three Combat Wings (CW): 403CW would consist of 62 aircraft: 96BG (21) Lead Group; 388BG (21) Low Group; and 390BG (20) High Group; 401CW would consist of 42 aircraft: 94BG (21) Lead Group; 385BG (21) Low Group; and 402CW consisted of 42 aircraft: 95BG (21) Lead Group; and 100BG (21) Low Group. The latter is were is located the 'Alice From Dallas'.
A second strike force, composed of 230 B-17s, was to target the ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt. They were to follow the Regensburg strike force by ten minutes on a parallel track, turn to the ball bearing factories and then head back to England. 2nd Air Task Force would consist of 116 aircraft divided into two Combat Wings (CW):
101CW would consist of 57 B-17s: 91BG (18) Lead Group; 381BG (20) Low Group; and Composite Group A (High Group) consisting of 19 B-17s: 306BG (7); 91BG (6); and 381BG (6).
The other Combat Wing (CW) of 2nd Air Task Force was a Composite Wing which would consist of 59 B-17s: 351BG (21) Lead Group; 384BG (18) Low Group; and Composite Group B (High Group) consisting of 20 B-17s: 306BG (9); 305BG (9) and 92BG (2).
These CWs were to take off at five minute intervals ten minutes after 1st Air Task Force and attack Schweinfurt.
3rd Air Task Force going to Schweinfurt too would consist of 114 B-17s divided into two Combat Wings (CW):
102CW would consist of 61 B-17s: 306BG (21) Lead Group; 92BG (20) Low Group; and 305BG (20) High Group;
103 Provisional CW would consist of 53 B-17s: 379BG (18) Lead Group; 303BG (18) Low Group; and Composite C (High Group) 17 B-17s: 303BG (10), 379BG (6), 384BG (1).
These two Air Task Forces were to take off at five minute intervals between CWs, twelve minute intervals between Task Forces and ten minutes after 1st Air Task Force.
As it was expected that the raids would cause a large air-battle, escort would consist of all available P-47 fighter groups (18 in total), as well as 16 Spitfire squadrons. At this period during the war, neither fighter had the range, even with belly-paper tanks for the P-47, to escort the bombers to the German northwestern border.
On the morning of August 17th, 1943, the weather over the American bases in England was terrible. Ground fog, light drizzle, and completely overcast skies caused the take-off time schedule to get seriously degraded. 1st Air Task Force under Col. LeMay had much training in instrument take-offs and they managed to get in the air and assembled pretty much on schedule. Their schedule was also very tight, as they were supposed to arrive at the African bases before dusk, after almost 11 hours of flight.
The 230 B-17s of 1st Bomb Division were not well trained for taking-off in the conditions and they waited an incredible one and one half hours for the fog to lift before they took off. The plan was doomed from the start: both strike forces would have to force their way into southern Germany. German fighters will have time to land, refuel and rearm between both bomber streams.
The first wave of 146 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers departed for Regensburg in the early morning faced immediate opposition from German fighters after crossing into enemy airspace, as soon as the escort left the bomber stream. Since the B-17s lacked long-range fighter escorts, the Luftwaffe took advantage of this vulnerability and launched multiple waves of fighters to intercept the bombers.
"Alice From Dallas" was was the lead crew of the second element of the low squadron of 100th BG this day, and it was caught in the first waves of attack, above Belgium. In the miniserie, the aircraft is hit by a frontal attack: its left wing is raked by ennemy fire, engine 2 was on fire and threatened to spread to the entire wing area before the bail-out bell is activated. Many details are written on the MACR n°678, and I can only encourage you to have a look here: https://100thbg.com/macr/?macr_id=13
Next time, I will show you my painting of this event, stay tuned!
Boeing B-17 - The Fifteen Ton Flying Fortress, Graham Simmons and Dr. Harry Friedman, Pen & Sword Aviation, 2011
Schweinfurt-Regensburg 1943 - Eighth Air Force's costly early daylight battles, Marshall L. Michel, Osprey Air Compaign, 2020
https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/aircraft/42-5867
https://b17flyingfortress.de/en/b17/42-5867-alice-from-dallas/