At 1012 hours, on October 14, 1943, in weather so foul that takeoff and ascent was by instruments only, the 8th Army Air Force, also known as the Mighty 8th, dispatched the first of 383 heavy bombers bound for the town of Schweinfurt Germany, 460 miles distant. Since fifty seven percent of all bearings used by Germany were made in this city, it was at the top of the list of strategic targets for the allied forces and had already received a first ruinous attack on August 17, 1943.
After failures to rendezvous and many bombers forced to abort the mission, 291 B-17s crossed the English Channel, making landfall at Walcheren Island, Netherlands and entering German-controlled airspace over the continent. Some of the bombers were initially protected by friendly fighter escort which, low on fuel, were forced to turn back about half way to the target, near Aachen. The bomber stream was immediately set upon by Luftwaffe fighter aircraft which engaged in attacks all the way to the target. An estimated 1,100 fighter and other Luftwaffe aircraft participated in the attacks, most making multiple passes and many landing, refueling and rearming to rejoin the battle. After passing the IP (Initial Point) at Wurzburg only 228 B-17s remained to drop bombs on Schweinfurt. Over the target six hundred (mostly 88mm) FLAK guns on the ground around Schweinfurt manned by Luftwaffen Flakhelfers (LWH) or Flak Helpers put up a blistering flak barrage. Unlike previous missions, the Luftwaffe fighters did not disengage over the target, but flew through the tremendous flak barrage, making almost suicidal attacks on the bombers. After bombs away the vicious attacks by Luftwaffe fighters and other aircraft resumed and continued, disengaging deep into France or, in some instances, not until the bombers reached the English Channel on the return flight to England.
The battle brought great losses to both sides. Sixty B-17s were lost to flak and fighters, and with ten man crews, 600 air crewmen went missing. Some (an estimated 120) lost their lives in the burning, badly damaged, crashed planes. Most became prisoners of war. Five additional B-17s were lost in England on return. Seventeen additional aircraft were so damaged they could never fly again. On the ground in Schweinfurt, 276 people died and countless more were injured. Hundreds had to be freed from shelters, having been trapped by fallen debris. Businesses and homes were razed. Valuable and treasured possessions were destroyed. Consequently, October 14, 1943 - Mission 115, became known as "Black Thursday" in American military history and one of the greatest air battles of World War II.
Thirty years later some of the survivors from the Mighty 8th, including Colonel Budd Peaslee, S/Sgt. Phillip Taylor and 1st Lt. William Allen decided to form an organization to commemorate their fallen comrades-in-arms. They called it the Second Schweinfurt Memorial Association, Inc. (SSMA), giving it direct connection to the second air raid on Schweinfurt.
Initially, the full members of this association were all veterans of the 8th Air Force who flew on Mission 115. Every year the members, and their families and friends, meet in a different city in the United States around the 14th of October to honor their dead fellow airmen.
But there is more to this story: At the 50th Anniversary, two Germans, Dr. Helmut Katzenberger and Vomar Wilckens came to the reunion in New Orleans to present to the group information they had on that fateful day. Then in 1996, the SSMA members invited more of their former enemies, including Georg Schaefer, whose grandfather founded one of the "targeted" ball bearing factories, to attend their reunion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Schaefer, now retired from the Board of Directors of FAG Kugelfischer, had served, along with his classmates, in one of the 88mm Flakbatteries around Schweinfurt. He brought many artifacts from "Black Thursday". Many of these artifacts are permanently included in the Second Schweinfurt display at the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
It was at this reunion that the Americans suggested erecting a joint memorial remembering this mission. Mr. Schaefer presented this idea to his fellow Luftwaffenhelfers, who embraced the idea and on June 16, 1998 a German American Memorial was dedicated on a site alongside the former “Spitalsee” air raid shelter in Schweinfurt. The memorial was created by G. Hubert Neidhard (3/3/28 - 5/14/99), who was an art teacher at Alexander von Humboldt High School in Schweinfurt and a flak-helper in his hometown during the war.
This started the amicable meetings between members of the SSMA and the former flak helpers. In 1999, a group of former flak helpers, accompanied by Gudrun Grieser, Lord Mayor of the City of Schweinfurt, attended the reunion in Savannah, Georgia. Reno, Nevada was the site of the 2000 Reunion. In 2001, SSMA decided to hold their reunion in Schweinfurt, the first time the organization had held their meeting outside of the U.S. Sixty two participants from the U.S. attended despite the disastrous events in New York and Washington on September 11. Fort Worth was the site of the 2002 Reunion. Seattle - 2003 and in 2004, the members will return to Schweinfurt.
The bonding between former enemies is an impressive sign of active reconciliation, but also an admonition to future generations to do all they can so that horrors like those in the 20th century are never repeated. The inscription on the German American Memorial speaks to the bond between these two groups: "Dedicated by some who witnessed the tragedy of war, now united in friendship and the hope for lasting peace among all people".
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