The
second Schweinfurt raid,
[10] also called
Black Thursday, was a
World War II air battle that took place on 14 October 1943, over
Nazi Germany between forces of the United States
8th Air Force and German
Luftwaffe fighter arm (
Jagdwaffe). The American bombers conducted a
strategic bombing raid on
ball bearing factories to reduce production of these vital parts for all manner of war machines. This was the second attack on the factories at
Schweinfurt. American wartime intelligence claimed the first
Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission in August had reduced bearing production by 34 percent but had cost many bombers. A planned follow-up raid had to be postponed to rebuild American forces.