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Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid
On Thursday, October 14, 1943, two hundred and ninety one B-17 Flying Fortresses set out for a strategic bombing raid on the factories in Schweinfurt.
Sixty of those planes never returned and six hundred and fifty men were lost during the course of that mission.
It was the greatest failure that the United States Air Force had ever suffered and became known as “Black Thursday”.
Martin Caidin’s Black The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid is a brilliant account of that day that should never be forgotten.
This book uncovers in thrilling detail the build-up to that fateful raid as the ground crew prepare the aircraft and the aviators are briefed on their mission ahead.
By consulting with first-hand accounts and interviewing survivors Caidin’s book takes the reader to the heart of the action as the planes burst into battle in the skies above Western Europe.
“It is documented in the same careful kind of research which makes the whole book so successful. Excellent!” Kirkus Reviews
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. Caidin was an airplane pilot as well, and bought and restored a 1936 Junkers Ju 52 airplane. His book Black Thursday was first published in 1960. He passed away in 1997.
Sixty of those planes never returned and six hundred and fifty men were lost during the course of that mission.
It was the greatest failure that the United States Air Force had ever suffered and became known as “Black Thursday”.
Martin Caidin’s Black The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid is a brilliant account of that day that should never be forgotten.
This book uncovers in thrilling detail the build-up to that fateful raid as the ground crew prepare the aircraft and the aviators are briefed on their mission ahead.
By consulting with first-hand accounts and interviewing survivors Caidin’s book takes the reader to the heart of the action as the planes burst into battle in the skies above Western Europe.
“It is documented in the same careful kind of research which makes the whole book so successful. Excellent!” Kirkus Reviews
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. Caidin was an airplane pilot as well, and bought and restored a 1936 Junkers Ju 52 airplane. His book Black Thursday was first published in 1960. He passed away in 1997.
205 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 1960
988 people are currently reading
876 people want to read
About the author
Martin Caidin
192 books81 followersMartin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.
Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.
Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.
In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.
Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.
Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.
In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 118 reviews
March 14, 2023
I enjoyed this book more from a personal perspective as my grandfather served as a bombadier during WWII.
He started the war as a bombadier trainer, so he likely knew many of the people who served in the Mighty 8th. (My grandpa's roommate and fellow bombadier trainer was "Tennessee" Ernie Ford.)
But I found this book fascinating because I saw a lot of the few stories that I knew about my Grandpa's time in the book.
He started the war as a bombadier trainer, so he likely knew many of the people who served in the Mighty 8th. (My grandpa's roommate and fellow bombadier trainer was "Tennessee" Ernie Ford.)
But I found this book fascinating because I saw a lot of the few stories that I knew about my Grandpa's time in the book.
March 14, 2023
Traumatic as war always is.
I read this as a teen and was stunned at the loss of life of American aircrews and Luftwaffe fighter pilots. I think it was in this account Caidin documented that one American squadron lost all its aircrew and aircraft. Not one plane or crew returned to England. The words riveted themselves into my young mind: “It cannot be. It just cannot be.”
I wish it would never be. But there always seems to be one politician or general who wants to wage a war and because of that those attacked have to fight back in order to defend themselves.
A powerful piece of narrative nonfiction that highlights courage, sorrow and loss across the nations.
I read this as a teen and was stunned at the loss of life of American aircrews and Luftwaffe fighter pilots. I think it was in this account Caidin documented that one American squadron lost all its aircrew and aircraft. Not one plane or crew returned to England. The words riveted themselves into my young mind: “It cannot be. It just cannot be.”
I wish it would never be. But there always seems to be one politician or general who wants to wage a war and because of that those attacked have to fight back in order to defend themselves.
A powerful piece of narrative nonfiction that highlights courage, sorrow and loss across the nations.
September 18, 2018
This is a poetical book in some ways. Many of the descriptions of airfields, planes, and flying conditions are written in almost lyrical terms, and yet the reality of 'Black Thursday' is always there. 60 B-17s did not return from bombing Schweinfurt that day. 60 planes and 600 men, although some of the men did survive to be captured or, if they were as fortunate as Staff Sergeant Peter Seniawsky, who survived on the run for 6 weeks with the help of some civilians, finally managed to return to England.
The actual bombing of the ball-bearing works is only a small part of this book. Hap Arnold seemed to think the bombers had done magnificently. He even hinted that the 8th Air Force had finished off Schweinfurt--an illusion--because the Germans had already begun working on ways to diversify their production sites even before October 14, 1943. As the author points out, the 8th Air Force allowed too much time to elapse between missions: August, October and then not for 4 months. This gave the Reich the breathing space it needed.
This is a sad book in many ways--all those planes and men, whose loss was not 'incidental' (Arnold's word) to their families. They had done their duty. They had not turned back. Hopefully, that gave all who survived some measure of solace.
The actual bombing of the ball-bearing works is only a small part of this book. Hap Arnold seemed to think the bombers had done magnificently. He even hinted that the 8th Air Force had finished off Schweinfurt--an illusion--because the Germans had already begun working on ways to diversify their production sites even before October 14, 1943. As the author points out, the 8th Air Force allowed too much time to elapse between missions: August, October and then not for 4 months. This gave the Reich the breathing space it needed.
This is a sad book in many ways--all those planes and men, whose loss was not 'incidental' (Arnold's word) to their families. They had done their duty. They had not turned back. Hopefully, that gave all who survived some measure of solace.
July 3, 2018
The second raid on Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943 was as successful as the first raid in August 17,1943-it wasn’t. It took the planners two raids, deep into Germany territory to realize that without fighter escort, the B-17 and B-24 Liberators were nothing more than target practice for the Luftwaffe pilots This book covers the second raid and the heroism shown by American pilots. Can you imagine willingly flying into hell in the daylight to Schweinfurt with no fighter cover to and from the target. I cannot!
Like the one in August, the losses are staggering. If the ball bearing plants can be taken out, the German war machine would come to a screeching halt, at least that was the theory. We know now, that if the RAF would have followed up with their nighttime bombings, according to Albert Speer, it might have happened. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Okay, that’s a brief historical account. Let’s talk about the writing style.
I understand any writer wanting to get the readers in the bomber and feel exactly what the men are thinking and feeling, but this one went over the top. On the kindle it took two to three pages to describe how a piece of shrapnel enters the plane, bounces around and finds a home; an armed bomb. Then it’s another two to three pages describing how the shrapnel is going to trigger the bomb and the 30ton Fortress is going to go nova. Was this necessary? I don’t think so. And this is how the entire book is written. Way too many tangents and description and when the bomber finally reach Schweinfurt, nothing. It read along the lines of “our stragglers lined up, zeroed in the Nordons and released. Ball turret and tail gunner radioed back the bombs hit home.” That’s it. Funny, I thought the story was about the raid.
And then there are chapters dedicated to the crews flying the mission. The author gets so descriptive I had to remind myself what the story was about; he goes on so long with it I found myself thinking, “this could be about any raid the crews flew.”
The title should have been, “The Mighty Crews of the 8th Airforce.” That would be much more appropriate for that is the author’s strong suite.
Our men flew into hell and never wavered. They fought the elements on the ground: cold, mud, fog and rain. In the air: they fought the air, altitude, turbulence, formations and their own planes. To the target, they fought, ack-ack, fighters, rockets, high level bombs, failed electronics, sliced hydraulic lines, run-away engines, shot up engines, wounded and dying men, shredded stabilizers, missing elevators and then the long flight home. How many reading this can imagine the horror these men faced day in and day out, knowing death was only a second away? The image of FW-190 bearing down at your cockpit at over 500mph firing fingers of death at you is not a very consoling image and yet, these pilots never shirked their duty. They accepted the missions assigned and performed them to the best of their ability. They are all heroes in my book.
With that said, I came across a host of grammatical errors which is unacceptable for a work of non-fiction. I know when it was first published and when it was republished. This seems to be a trend in the publishing world and it is unacceptable. If you’re going to buy the rights than spend the time and have your editors reread and clean it up.
For that reason alone, this only receives three stars.
That aside, now that you know what the story gravitates around, you will not be disappointed. It is still a good read.
A great companion to this story is Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe.
Three Stars.
Like the one in August, the losses are staggering. If the ball bearing plants can be taken out, the German war machine would come to a screeching halt, at least that was the theory. We know now, that if the RAF would have followed up with their nighttime bombings, according to Albert Speer, it might have happened. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Okay, that’s a brief historical account. Let’s talk about the writing style.
I understand any writer wanting to get the readers in the bomber and feel exactly what the men are thinking and feeling, but this one went over the top. On the kindle it took two to three pages to describe how a piece of shrapnel enters the plane, bounces around and finds a home; an armed bomb. Then it’s another two to three pages describing how the shrapnel is going to trigger the bomb and the 30ton Fortress is going to go nova. Was this necessary? I don’t think so. And this is how the entire book is written. Way too many tangents and description and when the bomber finally reach Schweinfurt, nothing. It read along the lines of “our stragglers lined up, zeroed in the Nordons and released. Ball turret and tail gunner radioed back the bombs hit home.” That’s it. Funny, I thought the story was about the raid.
And then there are chapters dedicated to the crews flying the mission. The author gets so descriptive I had to remind myself what the story was about; he goes on so long with it I found myself thinking, “this could be about any raid the crews flew.”
The title should have been, “The Mighty Crews of the 8th Airforce.” That would be much more appropriate for that is the author’s strong suite.
Our men flew into hell and never wavered. They fought the elements on the ground: cold, mud, fog and rain. In the air: they fought the air, altitude, turbulence, formations and their own planes. To the target, they fought, ack-ack, fighters, rockets, high level bombs, failed electronics, sliced hydraulic lines, run-away engines, shot up engines, wounded and dying men, shredded stabilizers, missing elevators and then the long flight home. How many reading this can imagine the horror these men faced day in and day out, knowing death was only a second away? The image of FW-190 bearing down at your cockpit at over 500mph firing fingers of death at you is not a very consoling image and yet, these pilots never shirked their duty. They accepted the missions assigned and performed them to the best of their ability. They are all heroes in my book.
With that said, I came across a host of grammatical errors which is unacceptable for a work of non-fiction. I know when it was first published and when it was republished. This seems to be a trend in the publishing world and it is unacceptable. If you’re going to buy the rights than spend the time and have your editors reread and clean it up.
For that reason alone, this only receives three stars.
That aside, now that you know what the story gravitates around, you will not be disappointed. It is still a good read.
A great companion to this story is Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe.
Three Stars.
July 7, 2023
That chapter where the gunner parachutes and his subsequent six week evasion adventure was worth the entire book. Otherwise a standard battle of the 8th which I always enjoy.
April 19, 2018
This book is intense. It portrays the absolute horror of the aerial war in vivid, graphic prose. Reading through it made me feel a moral imperative to ensure we never fight a war like this again.
May 27, 2025
** Spoiler Alert **
** 3.4 stars out of 5 Stars **
I lived in Schweinfurt, Germany for over three years. My father in law always told me the story of Black Thursday as he also lived there in the early 70's, and learned of the mission from locals. While I lived there my wife and I drove all over the city and went to numerous museums/buildings, but never came across anything from Schweinfurt's involvement in WWII.
Martin Caidin, does an adequate job of depicting the US air raid on Schweinfurt. While there were some historical photos of the bombing which occurred on October 14th 1943, I was hopeful for more, which didn't pan out. Caidin, encloses some additional artwork, but it lacks gusto and is underwhelming.
During my read, I discovered that this was a huge mission with many planes involved from all over the Allied European theater. I am thankful for my wife getting this book for my father in law as a gift, and for him letting me borrow it.
While the writing could be better, if you lived in Germany or have ever been to Schweinfurt, Germany this is worth the read.
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to red my review, it is much appreciated. Yours truly, Andrew.
** 3.4 stars out of 5 Stars **
I lived in Schweinfurt, Germany for over three years. My father in law always told me the story of Black Thursday as he also lived there in the early 70's, and learned of the mission from locals. While I lived there my wife and I drove all over the city and went to numerous museums/buildings, but never came across anything from Schweinfurt's involvement in WWII.
Martin Caidin, does an adequate job of depicting the US air raid on Schweinfurt. While there were some historical photos of the bombing which occurred on October 14th 1943, I was hopeful for more, which didn't pan out. Caidin, encloses some additional artwork, but it lacks gusto and is underwhelming.
During my read, I discovered that this was a huge mission with many planes involved from all over the Allied European theater. I am thankful for my wife getting this book for my father in law as a gift, and for him letting me borrow it.
While the writing could be better, if you lived in Germany or have ever been to Schweinfurt, Germany this is worth the read.
Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to red my review, it is much appreciated. Yours truly, Andrew.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2018
The Truly Greatest Generation!
I have read hundreds of books on the histories of war. Some more horrific than others going back as far as history can carry us. The story described in this book ranks among the most incredibly horror filled imaginable! It paints a picture of a struggle that is difficult to visualize as being within the ability of human beings to endure without them all attempting to run from in terror! It says much about the quality of that generation we now refer to as The Greatest Generation!
I have read hundreds of books on the histories of war. Some more horrific than others going back as far as history can carry us. The story described in this book ranks among the most incredibly horror filled imaginable! It paints a picture of a struggle that is difficult to visualize as being within the ability of human beings to endure without them all attempting to run from in terror! It says much about the quality of that generation we now refer to as The Greatest Generation!
November 15, 2018
A love of mine is WWII aerial warfare and while I’ve read books by Martin Middlebrook, Bruce Gamble, and others I hadn’t read any by Martin Caiden and have to say I’m impressed. While I was expecting the usual pre-mission, mission, post-mission with veterans inputs as well as giving us the unit inputs Mr. Caiden is different; there’s feeling and emotion.
Mr. Caiden does follow the script but rather than focusing on the mission and then the men Mr. Caiden primarily brings the story and emotions of one man, Col. Peaslee. While there are inputs from others, Col. Peaslee is the heart and soul of the story. In many ways this reminded me more of reading The Forgotten Soldier than another raid book. Because of this my rating was a little variable for a while but the more I read the more I became engrossed with the story. What really sold me was the back end when more stories from other crews were brought end, it added to story, validating what you’ve read and the greatness of the crews who flew this mission. A good read, worthy of your attention.
Mr. Caiden does follow the script but rather than focusing on the mission and then the men Mr. Caiden primarily brings the story and emotions of one man, Col. Peaslee. While there are inputs from others, Col. Peaslee is the heart and soul of the story. In many ways this reminded me more of reading The Forgotten Soldier than another raid book. Because of this my rating was a little variable for a while but the more I read the more I became engrossed with the story. What really sold me was the back end when more stories from other crews were brought end, it added to story, validating what you’ve read and the greatness of the crews who flew this mission. A good read, worthy of your attention.
August 31, 2023
I was a bit disappointed in this. Being that it was a bit of World War II history I didn't know about, I was looking forward to reading this. And while the basic story of this raid, and the bombing campaign on Schweinfurt overall, was interesting, the execution was not as well done. The prelude to the raid, with it's history of bombing campaigns in general, was haphazard, with a timeline that moved between years. Overall, the book felt unfinished and almost thrown together, without much thought to the sequence. However, my deep appreciation and respect for bomber crews has grown.
February 27, 2024
Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid (1960) by
Martin Caidin
I read this book shortly after reading the similar but much longer Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany (2006) by Donald L. Miller. As that book presented the overall history of America's strategic bombing campaign in the European Theater of World War II, including the years before the war when theories and airplanes for strategic bombing were developed, I came to this book with much better background than Caidin presents. If you feel like this book doesn't stand on its own as well as you'd like, try reading Masters of the Air first or concurrently. You can also read the Wikipedia articles about almost everything named in the book, if you need more detail.
As the title indicates, Caidin focuses on a single mission in that campaign. It happens to be the mission with such appalling losses of unescorted American bombers to Luftwaffe fighters that it finally finished the peculiar American delusion of the self-defending strategic bomber. First the Germans, and then the British, tried daylight bombing beyond the range of friendly fighter escort, and quickly abandoned the idea. As Donald Miller explains, America's air power strategists entered the war with an almost stereotypical American Exceptionalism - unescorted daylight bombing had already proved too costly for both the Germans and the British, but by God we were going to make it work or die trying.
This book is about some of the men who died trying.
The irony is that even while these brave heroes were getting shot up by the Luftwaffe, their salvation in the form of longer-ranged escort fighters was only months away from arriving in strength. I refer of course to the famous North American P-51 Mustang, which when mated with the British Merlin engine produced a fighter with an unmatched combination of range, speed, agility, firepower, and performance, able to fly as far as a B-17 while matching up well with the Luftwaffe's best piston-powered fighters right over their home airfields. Similarly, the shorter-range workhorse Republic P-47 Thunderbolts were being upgraded with larger fuel tanks (and drop tanks) to extend their range. But these developments hadn't quite come together in time for the Schweinfurt Raid. This was to be among the last large-scale daylight bombing raids over Germany by American forces beyond the range of their own fighter escort.
Meanwhile the Luftwaffe had been continually improving its own anti-bomber aircraft. The B-17s flying without fighter cover had to rely solely on their own Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns for defense. That gun, which continues in front-line service to this day, is a formidable weapon. But B-17s were neither fast nor agile compared to the aircraft the Luftwaffe could send against them. With no American fighters to bother them, the Luftwaffe's twin-engined "heavy" fighters could approach the bomber formations at their leisure, and sit just outside of machine gun range while lobbing rockets and large-caliber cannon shells at the Flying Forts. That tactic would soon prove suicidal for the Luftwaffe once the nimble Mustangs showed up, but that was still a few weeks in the future at the time of the Schweinfurt raid.
Overall I found the book very readable. The ebook edition that I read had a fair sprinkling of typos, most of which looked suspiciously like OCR errors, which if true would technically make them "scannos" rather than "typos". The original book came out in 1960, which was a long time before word processing on computers. This means the ebook versions were almost certainly made by someone scanning a paper copy of the book, and it probably wasn't a fresh copy. OCR doesn't work as well on old books that have been thumbed through, with dirt and smudges and worn-off letters. Careful proofreading is necessary to clean up the scannos, and when humans do it, it costs money. Fortunately the year is 2024 now and AI is all the rage, so these kinds of errors may soon almost completely disappear from published works thanks to increasingly intelligent robot proofreaders.
Speaking of AI, I asked Google's Gemini to summarize the book. This is what our future AI overlord had to say:
Martin Caidin
I read this book shortly after reading the similar but much longer Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany (2006) by Donald L. Miller. As that book presented the overall history of America's strategic bombing campaign in the European Theater of World War II, including the years before the war when theories and airplanes for strategic bombing were developed, I came to this book with much better background than Caidin presents. If you feel like this book doesn't stand on its own as well as you'd like, try reading Masters of the Air first or concurrently. You can also read the Wikipedia articles about almost everything named in the book, if you need more detail.
As the title indicates, Caidin focuses on a single mission in that campaign. It happens to be the mission with such appalling losses of unescorted American bombers to Luftwaffe fighters that it finally finished the peculiar American delusion of the self-defending strategic bomber. First the Germans, and then the British, tried daylight bombing beyond the range of friendly fighter escort, and quickly abandoned the idea. As Donald Miller explains, America's air power strategists entered the war with an almost stereotypical American Exceptionalism - unescorted daylight bombing had already proved too costly for both the Germans and the British, but by God we were going to make it work or die trying.
This book is about some of the men who died trying.
The irony is that even while these brave heroes were getting shot up by the Luftwaffe, their salvation in the form of longer-ranged escort fighters was only months away from arriving in strength. I refer of course to the famous North American P-51 Mustang, which when mated with the British Merlin engine produced a fighter with an unmatched combination of range, speed, agility, firepower, and performance, able to fly as far as a B-17 while matching up well with the Luftwaffe's best piston-powered fighters right over their home airfields. Similarly, the shorter-range workhorse Republic P-47 Thunderbolts were being upgraded with larger fuel tanks (and drop tanks) to extend their range. But these developments hadn't quite come together in time for the Schweinfurt Raid. This was to be among the last large-scale daylight bombing raids over Germany by American forces beyond the range of their own fighter escort.
Meanwhile the Luftwaffe had been continually improving its own anti-bomber aircraft. The B-17s flying without fighter cover had to rely solely on their own Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns for defense. That gun, which continues in front-line service to this day, is a formidable weapon. But B-17s were neither fast nor agile compared to the aircraft the Luftwaffe could send against them. With no American fighters to bother them, the Luftwaffe's twin-engined "heavy" fighters could approach the bomber formations at their leisure, and sit just outside of machine gun range while lobbing rockets and large-caliber cannon shells at the Flying Forts. That tactic would soon prove suicidal for the Luftwaffe once the nimble Mustangs showed up, but that was still a few weeks in the future at the time of the Schweinfurt raid.
Overall I found the book very readable. The ebook edition that I read had a fair sprinkling of typos, most of which looked suspiciously like OCR errors, which if true would technically make them "scannos" rather than "typos". The original book came out in 1960, which was a long time before word processing on computers. This means the ebook versions were almost certainly made by someone scanning a paper copy of the book, and it probably wasn't a fresh copy. OCR doesn't work as well on old books that have been thumbed through, with dirt and smudges and worn-off letters. Careful proofreading is necessary to clean up the scannos, and when humans do it, it costs money. Fortunately the year is 2024 now and AI is all the rage, so these kinds of errors may soon almost completely disappear from published works thanks to increasingly intelligent robot proofreaders.
Speaking of AI, I asked Google's Gemini to summarize the book. This is what our future AI overlord had to say:
Our AI overlord made one quasi-error: on this raid, the P-47s only escorted the B-17s on part of the outbound leg, turning around as the bombers still had a long way to fly over Germany to the target. This gave the Luftwaffe plenty of time to attack the unescorted bombers after the P-47s turned around and flew back to base.
Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid, written by Martin Caidin, is a non-fiction book that details the events surrounding a major bombing raid conducted by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on October 14, 1943, during World War II.
Here's a summary of the book's key points:
* The Raid: The book focuses on the USAAF's mission to bomb ball-bearing factories in Schweinfurt, Germany, which were critical to the Nazi war effort.
* The Day: On October 14, 1943, a large fleet of B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, escorted by P-47 Thunderbolt fighters [sic], ventured deep into German airspace to reach the target.
* The Outcome: The mission resulted in heavy losses for the USAAF, with around 60 aircraft shot down and over 650 airmen killed or captured. This immense loss of life and equipment led to the day being called "Black Thursday."
* The Significance: Despite the heavy losses, the Schweinfurt raid is considered a pivotal moment in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It forced the Luftwaffe, the German air force, to defend its airspace more heavily, impacting its operations on other fronts.
The book, based on firsthand accounts and interviews with survivors, offers a detailed and dramatic account of the mission, encompassing the planning stages, the experiences of the aircrews, and the aftermath of the raid.
Here are some additional details you might find interesting:
* The book was first published in 1960 and has received positive reviews for its thrilling narrative and historical accuracy.
* It is available in various formats, including hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and ebook.
May 10, 2018
This book may not appeal to many, but as a private pilot I found it totally engrossing. Although Caidin waxes poetic a bit much in the first couple of chapters, overall it's not a problem What IS a problem, however, are the numerous typos in the book. Example: "WW-H" instead of "WW-II", "in fine" instead of "in line" and so on. In I must have noticed fifty or more typos. If nothing else it's distracting.
The book was written around 1961 or 1962 only seventeen years after WW-II. The author does a superb and incredible job of describing the horrors of aerial combat from the inside of a B-17 during the Schweinfurt raid of October 14, 1943. In the lead-up to the raid, he details the screw-ups and mis-conceptions by commanding officers, the incredible bravery of the air crews, super-human effort of even getting to and being in the bomber - before, en route to, during, and from the battle. Caidin doesn't spare the reader any details, including gut-wrenching descriptions of the killing, maiming, and general carnage wrought by the German pilots. They B-17 crews went through hell and many, many, many were killed in what turned out to be a colossal waste of human life not to mention the loss of aircraft. The book is an education both in historical terms, and in what "it" was like.
The book was written around 1961 or 1962 only seventeen years after WW-II. The author does a superb and incredible job of describing the horrors of aerial combat from the inside of a B-17 during the Schweinfurt raid of October 14, 1943. In the lead-up to the raid, he details the screw-ups and mis-conceptions by commanding officers, the incredible bravery of the air crews, super-human effort of even getting to and being in the bomber - before, en route to, during, and from the battle. Caidin doesn't spare the reader any details, including gut-wrenching descriptions of the killing, maiming, and general carnage wrought by the German pilots. They B-17 crews went through hell and many, many, many were killed in what turned out to be a colossal waste of human life not to mention the loss of aircraft. The book is an education both in historical terms, and in what "it" was like.
Read
April 20, 2021I would strongly recommend this type of historical material be more widely included in standard public school curriculum. Far too many of our citizens have never been educated in why we are so blessed, and the price that the greatest generation paid. We owe them that at least
If the original print version included photographs, they would add value to the impact of the account. Especially for those who are learning about the air war for the first time.
If the original print version included photographs, they would add value to the impact of the account. Especially for those who are learning about the air war for the first time.
October 10, 2018
The most sobering book I have read in a very long time! Astounding what the men of the 8th Air Force endured in the skies over Germany during World War II. Describes the multiple raids on the ball bearing facilities at Schweinfurt Germany. As the NYTimes reported “The ‘longest day’ for the B-17’s in World War II".
April 4, 2018
CHILLING!
My father was with the 401st bomb group in England during the war. I remember when I was a kid him talking about the raid on Schweinfurt. I remember him saying how bad it was.
My father was with the 401st bomb group in England during the war. I remember when I was a kid him talking about the raid on Schweinfurt. I remember him saying how bad it was.
May 1, 2020
This is an amazing piece of research which is also an eminently readable book. Martin Caiden takes us through the disastrous raid on Schweinfurt by the U.S. 8th Air Force in late 1943, the so-called "Black Thursday" which saw 60 American bombers shot down over Germany and France. No dry history this, but an almost novel-esque work which layers history, tactics, strategy and a blow-by-blow account of the raid, while simultaneously taking the deepest possible dive into what it meant to fly a B-17 in combat -- the mechanical wonders, the physical effort, the psychological strain, the raw courage and the vital teamwork. I really cannot emphasize how swiftly this book moves or how frightfully well it conveys the horror and confusion of a bombing raid carried out under continous attack by flak guns, rockets, aerial mines, and hundreds upon hundreds of enemy fighters. There are many touching and some tragic, and even a few funny, stories about how pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and gunners coped, or failed to cope, with the horror.
The structure of the book is interesting. Caiden was a pilot and understood fliers and flying and machinery, and he wants the reader to understand what it means to move through the air in 30 tons of aircraft -- the work involved, the physics. So he breaks down the chapters into the overall strategy, the tactics, the logistics, the everything involved in carrying out a 300-bomber raid over a hostile nation. Then we get the action. Caiden makes extensive use of firsthand accounts and official records to record the event from the POV of those involved. He makes us feel it, the successes and failures. (One entire chapter is devoted to the improbable escape to Spain, through Germany and France, of one airman shot down during the attack.) At the same time, he explains the tactics and strategy of the Luftwaffe, praising their courage, ingenuity and determination at every point. While he is obviously partisan, using "we" and "our" for the Americans, he does not make the error of presenting the Germans as mere foils for American greatness. They won this battle, and while they too paid a steep price to do so, Caiden does not let us forget it. The scenes where American ground crews wait in vain for bombers that will never return, the times when accidents kill as many Americans as a lost battle, the pathetic image of the lone survivor of an entire squadron staring through tear-blurred eyes at row after row after row of empty bunks never again to be filled by their former occupants, will stick with you forever.
If the book has a weakness, it is that he uses German records only for the purposes of recording losses and measuring bomb damage. There are no interviews with Luftwaffe fighter pilots who flew against the raid, or the Luftwaffe commanders who directed the battle. He does not tap into official histories from the other side of the hill. By doing so he would have greatly improved an already amazing piece of history and research, and given us a broader and deeper, and also a more balanced, account of the battle. However, this may not have been his objective to begin with. As I said, Caiden is a partisan writer: he wrote this book to impress upon us the courage of the American airman and the tremendous struggles and sacrifices he had to make to win the daylight air war over Europe, not to tell both sides of the story. Still, I consider this a pity.
Having said that, I loved this book. It reads almost like a novel and it has none of the overly technical, burdensome discussions of metallurgy, aerdodynamics, and what-not that made what many consider his seminal work, THE FORK-TAILED DEVIL, impossible for me to read cover to cover. That book has terrific anecdotes and exhaustive research, but it gets in its own way with all the nuts and bolts: BLACK THURSDAY does not make that mistake. It's one of the best WW2 histories I've ever read.
The structure of the book is interesting. Caiden was a pilot and understood fliers and flying and machinery, and he wants the reader to understand what it means to move through the air in 30 tons of aircraft -- the work involved, the physics. So he breaks down the chapters into the overall strategy, the tactics, the logistics, the everything involved in carrying out a 300-bomber raid over a hostile nation. Then we get the action. Caiden makes extensive use of firsthand accounts and official records to record the event from the POV of those involved. He makes us feel it, the successes and failures. (One entire chapter is devoted to the improbable escape to Spain, through Germany and France, of one airman shot down during the attack.) At the same time, he explains the tactics and strategy of the Luftwaffe, praising their courage, ingenuity and determination at every point. While he is obviously partisan, using "we" and "our" for the Americans, he does not make the error of presenting the Germans as mere foils for American greatness. They won this battle, and while they too paid a steep price to do so, Caiden does not let us forget it. The scenes where American ground crews wait in vain for bombers that will never return, the times when accidents kill as many Americans as a lost battle, the pathetic image of the lone survivor of an entire squadron staring through tear-blurred eyes at row after row after row of empty bunks never again to be filled by their former occupants, will stick with you forever.
If the book has a weakness, it is that he uses German records only for the purposes of recording losses and measuring bomb damage. There are no interviews with Luftwaffe fighter pilots who flew against the raid, or the Luftwaffe commanders who directed the battle. He does not tap into official histories from the other side of the hill. By doing so he would have greatly improved an already amazing piece of history and research, and given us a broader and deeper, and also a more balanced, account of the battle. However, this may not have been his objective to begin with. As I said, Caiden is a partisan writer: he wrote this book to impress upon us the courage of the American airman and the tremendous struggles and sacrifices he had to make to win the daylight air war over Europe, not to tell both sides of the story. Still, I consider this a pity.
Having said that, I loved this book. It reads almost like a novel and it has none of the overly technical, burdensome discussions of metallurgy, aerdodynamics, and what-not that made what many consider his seminal work, THE FORK-TAILED DEVIL, impossible for me to read cover to cover. That book has terrific anecdotes and exhaustive research, but it gets in its own way with all the nuts and bolts: BLACK THURSDAY does not make that mistake. It's one of the best WW2 histories I've ever read.
July 10, 2021
Good account of the Schweinfurt raid. Caidin provides extraordinary detail on the bombers and the men who flew and fought them. Their courage and dedication to duty is awesome. While the term lions led by donkeys, applied to the British soldiers of WW1 may be to harsh to apply to Hap Arnold and his subordinates, it is close. The Air Force Generals led by Arnold believed in Strategic Daylight Precision bombing. The only thing true in that phrase was they did bomb during daylight. The data that Caidin provides shows the bombing was not strategic or precise and failed in its objectives. The Air Force leadership at that time cavalierly threw away lives and aircraft to try and prove that Strategic Daylight Precision bombing worked. They kept wasting lives and aircraft in the face of overwhelming data that they were wrong. Arnold's damnable lie about the Schweinfurt raid is shown point by point to be false by Caidin. My only critique of the book is that it would have been better if he had included what it was like from the viewpoint of the people in Schweinfurt and workers in the ball bearing plants that were the target of the mission.
April 28, 2018
Atrocious writing, do yourself a favor and pass on this book
As an example of just how bad the writing is, the author uses the word "literally" twice within a few paragraphs to describe situations which were not literally true.
Beyond that, he skips back and forth cronologically making the book difficult to follow. Raw statistics are used in a haphazard manner. Sentences are often needlessly complex requiring careful re-reading to understand simple concepts. The use of present tense to describe historical events is both bothersome and allows for seeming contradictions (The Germans say one thing, the allies say another, but the Germans say one thing. Just tell me the accepted view among historians and on what points they disagree.)
It's unfortunate because it seems like such an interesting subject and it appears the author did a good deal of research (despite footnotes and references being omitted). However, the nearly 50 Shades of Grey level poor writing makes it almost unbearable to read.
As an example of just how bad the writing is, the author uses the word "literally" twice within a few paragraphs to describe situations which were not literally true.
Beyond that, he skips back and forth cronologically making the book difficult to follow. Raw statistics are used in a haphazard manner. Sentences are often needlessly complex requiring careful re-reading to understand simple concepts. The use of present tense to describe historical events is both bothersome and allows for seeming contradictions (The Germans say one thing, the allies say another, but the Germans say one thing. Just tell me the accepted view among historians and on what points they disagree.)
It's unfortunate because it seems like such an interesting subject and it appears the author did a good deal of research (despite footnotes and references being omitted). However, the nearly 50 Shades of Grey level poor writing makes it almost unbearable to read.
November 20, 2018
I used $0.99 worth of free Amazon credits toward Great on Kindle eBooks to 'purchase' this book. This is another book from www.digitalhistorybooks.com, of which I have read Twenty Million Tons Under the Sea by Daniel V. Gallery.
This book was much drier and felt more like a laundry list at times. There is certainly a story being told, but it is easy to get lost in the statistics and raw facts that are disgorged in quick succession. There is one chapter in particular where the majority of the chapter is a list of planes that are destroyed or damaged by five planes in a span of twenty or so minutes. Perhaps this is something some people enjoy reading about, but I did not.
I appreciated that Caidin portrays this failure in a way that respects airmen on both sides. I especially enjoyed the story about the American airmen's reaction to the poster with "Who's afraid of the big bad wulfe?" Another entertaining portion was the story of the airman who makes his way back to England after bailing out in Germany.
This book was much drier and felt more like a laundry list at times. There is certainly a story being told, but it is easy to get lost in the statistics and raw facts that are disgorged in quick succession. There is one chapter in particular where the majority of the chapter is a list of planes that are destroyed or damaged by five planes in a span of twenty or so minutes. Perhaps this is something some people enjoy reading about, but I did not.
I appreciated that Caidin portrays this failure in a way that respects airmen on both sides. I especially enjoyed the story about the American airmen's reaction to the poster with "Who's afraid of the big bad wulfe?" Another entertaining portion was the story of the airman who makes his way back to England after bailing out in Germany.
May 6, 2018
Incredibly Descriptive read
I consider myself a "self proclaimed student" of WW II, and have read about the marines bivouacted on remote Pacific Islands, about US. submarines trying desperately avoid Japanese escort depth charge attacks, about the Army slogging across Europe, but the air war over Nazi occupied Europe is one of the most harrowing accounts I have EVER read.These airmen HAD to stay on course as well as remain in formation for protection against the German Luftwaffe, and deliver their load of bombs on target, and then run the gauntlet of the German fighters the way home,all the way up to the English Channel. The chapter that dealt with the bombers over Germany was one of the most harrowing descriptions of the air war that I have EVER read. These men did their duty, and then came home at war's end, and then had to live with the nightmares that invaded their sleep, many for the rest of their lives
I consider myself a "self proclaimed student" of WW II, and have read about the marines bivouacted on remote Pacific Islands, about US. submarines trying desperately avoid Japanese escort depth charge attacks, about the Army slogging across Europe, but the air war over Nazi occupied Europe is one of the most harrowing accounts I have EVER read.These airmen HAD to stay on course as well as remain in formation for protection against the German Luftwaffe, and deliver their load of bombs on target, and then run the gauntlet of the German fighters the way home,all the way up to the English Channel. The chapter that dealt with the bombers over Germany was one of the most harrowing descriptions of the air war that I have EVER read. These men did their duty, and then came home at war's end, and then had to live with the nightmares that invaded their sleep, many for the rest of their lives
January 12, 2019
This is a great book! I learned so much about the strategic bombing campaign in Europe during WWII that I didn't know. When you see movies like 'Twelve O'Clock High' or 'Memphis Belle' they only provide a tiny fraction of what the B-17 air crews encountered during their bombing missions. This book fills in the major gaps left by those movies. It is also very well written - at times it's a page turner - several of the first hand accounts of downed airmen and shot-up planes trying to return to England would make an excellent movie or mini-series. The author, Martin Caidin, was only 17 years removed from the year of the Schweinfurt raid, so he had access to participants and their first-hand accounts of the mission greatly adds to the accuracy of the book.
I rarely give 5 stars to a book, but for someone interested in WWII, especially the air war over Europe, this is a must-read, and easily rates 5 stars.
I rarely give 5 stars to a book, but for someone interested in WWII, especially the air war over Europe, this is a must-read, and easily rates 5 stars.
February 15, 2024
Pretty good book, but my experience reading this book was tainted by my version being a poor publication. It looks as if someone took a scan of the original 1960 publication, and tried to copy and paste the text into a different software that wasn’t able to clearly transfer the text. My copy is rife with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes I don’t think the author would have intended. “t” is sometimes mistaken for “f” and vice versa, and some words are misspelled or just flat out don’t make sense. Punctuation is also an issue. I don’t think it is an author issue because if one infers a bit you can make the errors make sense. The content of the book is good but it was difficult to focus due to the heinous amount of basic errors. If the content itself wasn’t good, the book would get 1 star. Just don’t pick up the 2018 paperback copy.
July 14, 2018
Incredible
I've read countless books and seen more movies on WW2 than I can count, but none of them provided the detail and information contained in this book. The bravery of these fliers and their sacrifice cannot be overstated. Additionally, the ability of the B-17 to sustain damage yet continue to fly--engines shot out, control surfaces frozen or gone, huge holes.
And nowhere else have I seen that the Germans used air-to-air rockets! One hit in the right place on a B-17 and the plane just disappeared in a flash of flame.
The raid on the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt was unsuccessful and the Germans recovered from it quickly. However, the German fliers were impressed that the Americans continued their attack in the face of devastating fighter assaults.
I've read countless books and seen more movies on WW2 than I can count, but none of them provided the detail and information contained in this book. The bravery of these fliers and their sacrifice cannot be overstated. Additionally, the ability of the B-17 to sustain damage yet continue to fly--engines shot out, control surfaces frozen or gone, huge holes.
And nowhere else have I seen that the Germans used air-to-air rockets! One hit in the right place on a B-17 and the plane just disappeared in a flash of flame.
The raid on the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt was unsuccessful and the Germans recovered from it quickly. However, the German fliers were impressed that the Americans continued their attack in the face of devastating fighter assaults.
May 12, 2018
Posting this review under wife's account since Amazon cannot accommodate two different readers making posts under one account.
When I think about the fabric of which these kids were made (4 engine bomber pilots and crews, many at age 20/21) - in comparison to today's younger generation, it is simply mind-boggling. The causes that motivate people today seem to be so shallow in relation to the "it's a dirty job that has to be done, and I am willing to do it" attitudes of the WWII fighting men. I am such an admirer of those who served in combat anytime and I found this book to be a great read. Very well written. Bill W.
When I think about the fabric of which these kids were made (4 engine bomber pilots and crews, many at age 20/21) - in comparison to today's younger generation, it is simply mind-boggling. The causes that motivate people today seem to be so shallow in relation to the "it's a dirty job that has to be done, and I am willing to do it" attitudes of the WWII fighting men. I am such an admirer of those who served in combat anytime and I found this book to be a great read. Very well written. Bill W.
December 18, 2018
Although the writing style makes the narrative difficult to follow at times and the author doesn’t hammer home why Black Thursday was such a disaster (except statistically in the number of planes/men lost), I recommend this book to anyone interested in a story about a WWII battle that makes you feel as if you were a participant.
The author paints in vivid detail the fear, uncertainty, death, and sadness resulting from the day. All documents and interviews necessary to write this book were gathered less than 20 years after the battle, which allowed for such detail and clarity in the minds of the battle’s surviving participants.
The author paints in vivid detail the fear, uncertainty, death, and sadness resulting from the day. All documents and interviews necessary to write this book were gathered less than 20 years after the battle, which allowed for such detail and clarity in the minds of the battle’s surviving participants.
May 28, 2021
Warrior Airmen
This is the story of the second raid on Schweinfurt during the Second World War by American airmen flying B 17s. The bombers quickly lost their escorts due to lack of range, and slaughter ensued for the bombers crews. It took the 8th Army Air Force months to recover from this bombing raid. During this time, the Germans decentralized the production of the ball bearings, rendering the point of the raid moot. The author did a very good job in describing the mission and provides perspectives from a variety of crew members. Unfortunately, the German defenses won the day.
This is the story of the second raid on Schweinfurt during the Second World War by American airmen flying B 17s. The bombers quickly lost their escorts due to lack of range, and slaughter ensued for the bombers crews. It took the 8th Army Air Force months to recover from this bombing raid. During this time, the Germans decentralized the production of the ball bearings, rendering the point of the raid moot. The author did a very good job in describing the mission and provides perspectives from a variety of crew members. Unfortunately, the German defenses won the day.
September 14, 2018
I hadn't read a WWII aviation book since, "God is my Co-Pilot" back in my late teenage years. But, I've always had a soft spot for the B-17. When I read the reviews that said this book was a look at what it was like on a mission, I decided to read it.
And, it delivered. I really enjoyed the detail on preparation and in-flight experience. Some of it was very visceral, like the description of what it was like to have all that cold weather gear on while still on the ground and while in the air.
Altogether, an enjoyable read.
And, it delivered. I really enjoyed the detail on preparation and in-flight experience. Some of it was very visceral, like the description of what it was like to have all that cold weather gear on while still on the ground and while in the air.
Altogether, an enjoyable read.
October 1, 2018
Spectacular narrative of the air war
As a teenager, Caiden was one of my favorite authors for his timely fiction. I saw this in my history recommendations and snatched it up. Marty, a local celebrity in my day, did not disappoint. I learned so much untold history that I have an increased respect for those men who flew these missions and the crews that supported them on the ground. Caiden did for the AAF what Hornfischer does for the Navy, and Ambrose for the ground forces, giving new voice to that great generation.
As a teenager, Caiden was one of my favorite authors for his timely fiction. I saw this in my history recommendations and snatched it up. Marty, a local celebrity in my day, did not disappoint. I learned so much untold history that I have an increased respect for those men who flew these missions and the crews that supported them on the ground. Caiden did for the AAF what Hornfischer does for the Navy, and Ambrose for the ground forces, giving new voice to that great generation.
January 5, 2019
This is another war history book by Martin Cadin and like in Samari (the story of Saburo Saki) he pulls no punches. He tells it like it really was as far as the actual combat, the claims of victory and the true outcomes. It's a great read.
What is beyond me is what the men who fought WW2 were made of. They apparently had balls of pure tritainium that weighed 50 kilos each. How they could fight and die as they did makes me understand why they are called the Greatest Generation.
How does the saying go? Hard times make great men.
What is beyond me is what the men who fought WW2 were made of. They apparently had balls of pure tritainium that weighed 50 kilos each. How they could fight and die as they did makes me understand why they are called the Greatest Generation.
How does the saying go? Hard times make great men.
August 22, 2020
Excellent yet hard hitting account of Black Thursday
This book is well written and straightforward in its description and assessment of the Black Thursday raid which cost the VIII Bomber Command so dearly in late 1943. Good strategic overview of the mission goals and results. Interspersed were very detailed descriptions of the air action and tactics, and some harrowing personal stories. Very much recommended to describe the air war prior to the arrival of the Mustang and the heroic exploits of the airmen.
This book is well written and straightforward in its description and assessment of the Black Thursday raid which cost the VIII Bomber Command so dearly in late 1943. Good strategic overview of the mission goals and results. Interspersed were very detailed descriptions of the air action and tactics, and some harrowing personal stories. Very much recommended to describe the air war prior to the arrival of the Mustang and the heroic exploits of the airmen.
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