Schweinfurt: Disaster in the Skies:

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Campaign #17

by John Sweetman

Read, in great shape

Genres: Military Fiction, World War II

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1971

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shweinfurt, Disaster in the Skies , number 17 in the Ballantine's Ilustrated History of the Violent Century, is a book about the early part of the US daylight bombing campaign over occupied Europe and Germany itself. Written by John Sweetman, a Sandhurst Professor and author on European History , the book came out in 1971. As with all this series, the book is filled with b/w pictures, Maps, diagrams and line drawings of the aircraft and anti-aircraft guns involved. This book came out before the Ultra Revelation of the mid- seventies, but is still a pretty good survey of the campaign's early days although it focuses on the two first Schweinfurt raids of 8/17/1943 and 10/14/1943 carried out without the aid of the P-51 fighter escorts all the way to and from the targets. The targets were the Nazi ball bearing factories, three of whom were in this smaller German city. These raid were extremely costly in both men and machines, shocking the Army Air Corps(forerunner of the USAF) and helping to accelerate the development of the Mustang and other means of protecting the American Bomber force in England. Although most of the slim book is about the buildup and doctrinal arguments involved in the overall Allied Bombing campaigns (RAF by Night, USAAC by day) the book also tells stories from the raids themselves.

The Americans really did think that their B-17 Fortresses and B-24 Liberators were so heavily armoured and defended with .50 Caliber Machine Guns that they could fend off the Bf-109s, FW 190s and the plethora of other aircraft the Nazis were using for defending their Reich. Early successes over occupied countries (often where fighters Could escort them) lulled the American leaders further into a false sense of security. Thus when losses on these deep penetrations into Germany climbed well over 10% of the forces used- it was a profound shock. Tactics and doctrine were tightened up after the first raid- but the second was still extremely costly, leading to further changes in technique and a cry for the development of long distance fighters. This would lead to acceleration of the Mustang project. Americans like the Spitfire- but they wanted one that could fly to Berlin and back. Part of the book are a little dated, but the core story does come through.

There are a few adult themes, and a few harrowing passages about the cost of the two main raids, so this is a book for the Junior Reader over about 11/12 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast - a mixed bag. The Gamer, especially one playing Aces High, Blood Red Skies, or another WWII aerial warfare set of rules, you get doctrinal arguments, procedures, and scenario development, either for generic missions or for these particular battles. The Modeler gets a lot of information for build/diorama development, the b/w pics are great- but not really that helpful- and so may have been surpassed by sources with more colour content. The Military Enthusiast gets a decent source on the early part of the American bombing campaign, a short book that can help establish a base of knowledge preparatory to adding more. A strong older book that has not lost its impact, but useful for its brevity as a basic source.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1971, Schweinfurt: Disaster in the Skies is one of many in the Pan/Ballantine series on 20th century warfare. There are a large number of illustrations, but as few exist relating to the two air battles that form the main subject these are of a more general nature, including some that are way out of context. The poor manufacturing standards of this series, whereby many books began to fall apart early in their life means that it is unusual to see one these days, and true to type this one barely made to the end of the reading. The writing quality of the book varies - the author seems to be fairly clued up on US weapons, tactics, and operations in the air war over Europe in WW2, but wherever he mentions British or German involvement he becomes very inaccurate indeed with a multitude of technical errors and misquotes. Readable, but seriously flawed.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative read on the circumstances that led to America's daylight bombing strategy and the geopolitical pressures that influences the Schweinfurt missions. Decent account of the missions themselves although only really told from the American side and not in a great amount of detail and light on eye witness accounts. Still worth reading to understand the context and events.

[robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos. Interesting facts and figures regarding bomber strategies and effectiveness and the German efforts to thwart those efforts. But a bit too much minutia regarding Bomber planning and operations.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖊 My review: An excellent history book.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
📕 Media form: Read from my private library.
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