Black Thursday over Schweinfurt in August 1943.
60 bombers, 3 P-47s, and 2 Spitfires lost, with 58-95 bombers heavily damaged
No matter how you cut it, those guys could paint anything they wanted to on the back of their jackets and I would still tip my hat to them.
That's for sure.
It just annoys me when the numbers are exaggerated.
The real-life numbers are mindboggling enough, they don't need to be padded.
When the 8th Air Force went back to Schweinfurt in October, they lost another 60 bombers. They lost more than that over Berlin in March 1944. Losses of 30-40 plus on one day were not uncommon until the escort fighters won control of the skies. That’s 3-400 men who didn’t come back after every mission, not counting casualties on the planes that made it back. Even spread out over hundreds of bombers, casualties like that had to have a bad effect on morale. Just flying one unescorted mission took a lot of courage. A full tour of 25+ missions knowing most crews didn’t make it that long took courage on a level unfathomable by people today.