It was the Mighty Eighth's most ambitious mission yet: a twin-strike into the heart of Nazi Germany.

This dual-pronged raid on August 17, 1943, saw more than 350 B-17 bombers despatched to bomb the cities of Schweinfurt and Regensburg.

The goal was to strike a major blow against the Nazi war machine by taking out three ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt and the Messerschmidt factory at Regensburg.

In this episode, we discuss the reasons behind the mission, the strategy and the experiences of those who took part – both in the air and on the ground.

We discuss what went right – and what went wrong – through the eyes of the 381st Bomb Group based at Ridgewell, Essex, about 50 miles north-east of London.

In particular, we follow the experiences of two men: Group lead navigator Leonard Spivey and Ridgewell chaplain James Good Brown.

To contact podcast hosts Johann and Mike, please email johann@ruralcity.co.uk.

The book mentioned in this episode – Bomb Group: The Eighth Air Force's 381st and the Allied Air Offensive over Europe – by Paul Bingley and Mike Peters is available to order from Amazon and all good bookshops.

This episode was recorded on location courtesy of Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum.

The introduction for this episode includes an excerpt from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Fireside Chat Following the Declaration of War on Japan (December 9, 1941).

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