"Sixty Bombers Are Missing"

The U.S. came out of the clouds last week. For months the stories of the U.S. Eighth Air Force raids on Germany had followed a palatable pattern--German factories demolished, U.S. losses relatively light, the Luftwaffe frantically impotent. Suddenly, the cost of victory loomed large.

Sixty four-engined bombers, possibly 15% of the attacking force, went hurtling down on to the Continent of Europe as they fought swarms of Nazi fighters 500 miles into Germany. The target: three plants at Schweinfurt, producing 50% of Germany's ball and roller bearings. In the Eighth's greatest single loss, $20,000,000 worth of bombers carried 593 U.S. airmen down with them. How many other pilots were wounded, how many other planes came home on a wing and a prayer, no one said.

The Long Haul. The price was not exorbitant: without bearings, the mechanized German war machine eventually would be helpless. But the cost was high enough to elicit a spate of explanation. Said the chief of the Eighth Air Force Bomber Command, Brigadier General Frederick L. Anderson: "The entire works are now inactive. ... It may be possible for the Germans eventually to restore 25% of normal productive capacity." President Roosevelt implied that the raid was worth while. The chief of the Army Air Forces, General Henry H. Arnold, said: "The Schweinfurt attack will have a definite effect on the German war economy . . . and will result in the shortening of the war." The Luftwaffe lost at least 102 fighters, used 300 fighter planes to try to defend "the most vital air target in all Germany."

A Washington spokesman explained: "We could plan short-haul raids for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday figuring on a 5% loss each day. But here we have a wonderful target. We know it's going to cost us, say, 15%, so we don't go out on Monday or Tuesday. We save our big stuff for Wednesday. In the end we suffer the same percentage loss. It's as though a family set aside $5 a week in their budget for pleasure, then decided to wait a month, save up $20 and blow the whole works on a damn good time."

U.S. crews would not appreciate the simile. The airmen knew that 1,800 fighters equipped with cannon, machine guns, some with glide bombs, rockets, new incendiary missiles are concentrated between Denmark and Belgium, as General Arnold announced this week. Empty barracks are hauntingly lonely. Morale always drops after heavy casualties, although experience shows that half the missing crews may be prisoners, that others may be picked up from the chilly waters of the North Sea.

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