This will be interesting to my Uncle Larry, who flew with the Mighty 8th.

By Douglas Reid on Jul 16, 2008 at 11:09 am

This will be of interest to my Uncle Lary, who flew with the8th

By Douglas Reid on Jul 16, 2008 at 11:14 am

I have often wondered if preemptive american bomber strikes against German Fighter fuel depots, runways and other ground resources thus hindering the murderous "turkey shoot" that went unhindered against approaching American bombers heading for Schweinfurt. It seems to me that crippling German defensive resources preceding the attacks at Schweinfurt, A single success at knocking out German fighter fuel depots, runways and fighter bases would seem to have caused a major disruption to German defenses of Schweinfurt, would have significantly reduced both the range and number of fighters that availed themselves of refueling and returning to battle and engaging American bombers approaching and leaving the Schweinfurt region. Perhaps this was considered and but nont chosen however the reason escapes me.

This tactic was employed by American air forces proceeding the brief air war preceding air strikes in Granada,Panama and repeated in the Gulf war. While such an initial attack would surely have resulted in many bomber losses in an initial bombing run against fuel, runways and Germain fighter resources, I have often wondered if such a strike against German fighter defenses followed closely by an attack at Schweinfurt, would have denied the Germans much of their ability to mount a 300 fighter armada against an American offensive strike on the strategic ball bearing facility.

By Festus Boozer on Sep 10, 2008 at 6:12 am

An excellent article about the "Black Thursday" mission. There are a few questionable errors: First, the 96th Bomb Group of the 3rd Division flew out of Snetterton Heath rather than rather than Grafton Underwood, their original base. Second the 305th BG out of Chelveston lost 13 and had three get back to base. Third: The 306th BG had 10 shot down, three got back to base and two crashed in the UK. You may ask how do I know? I was the radio operator on the 306th plane "Cavalier" which was the only plane from the 367th Squadron to reach the target and get back to base. This was my fourth mission. I went on to fly 31 missions, the final 16 on the "Rose of York", a plane that was lost over the North Sea after I had completed my combat tour.

By George G. Roberts on Feb 19, 2009 at 6:37 pm

I am responding to the email from George Roberts on Feb.,19 2009. I was researching George in the hopes of finding out some information on my Uncle Harry, Harry C. Moore(Flight Engineer)I believe with the 306thBG 367th BS. He was on the "Rose of York", along with "Impatient Virgin" and "Belle of the Blue". They also flew the Schweinfurt(First over Germany)mission. That's about all I know. I have been researching for some time now, and read about you on the Gil Cohen website with the "Almost Home" painting. Very nice!
If you please, if you know of him, I would greatly appreciate any information.

Sincerely!………..Della Norris

By Della Norris on Jun 27, 2009 at 10:20 pm

My father Tsgt Ed Fox flew with the 306BG, 369squadron and was wounded on the second Schweinfurt raid. I know George Roberts through the Second Schweinfurt Memorial Association. I am the educational director for the group and since yours is a recent posting I will see if I can get in touch with George and have him offer a response. Valor Studios came to our reunion last Oct in Pooler, GA and that is where the signing of "Almost Home" took place. If you have been to the museum there you may have seen the "Rose of York" jacket on display. I believe that is George Robert's. Valor Studios does such important work – we are lucky to have them here in Pennsylvania.

By S. Moyer on Jul 16, 2009 at 12:10 pm

If you are looking for information on the 306th Bomber Group, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo Museum has probably the most complete record of information on the 306th. My father, R. A. Strong (a Kalamazoo native), was the secretary and publisher for the 306th BG Association for over 30 years, as well as the author of "First over Germany". He turned over most of his research to the Air Zoo 3 years ago. He will also be turning over his card index on flying 306th personnel (probably the most complete you'll ever see) to the 8th Air Force Museum, Savannah, GA sometime this fall (2009).

By David Strong on Jul 21, 2009 at 1:06 pm

This will be interesting to my ROTC Colonel

By David Baker on Feb 2, 2010 at 10:41 pm

My ROTC Colonel was going over WWII recently.

By David Baker on Feb 2, 2010 at 10:44 pm