Black Monday for the 8th Air Force

6th March 1944: A lower than usual altitude attack on Berlin, the second daylight raid, finds the Germans prepared and leads to heavy losses

B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 384th Bomb Group fly through flak during a mission over Berlin

A B-17 Flying Fortresses releases its bombs during a mission over Berlin with an engine on fire.

A B-17 Flying Fortress nicknamed "Chopstick", the 482nd Bomb Group crashes over Berlin, 6 March 1944.

The RAF had been visiting the 'Big City', Berlin, since November. Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, head of Bomber Command, was convinced that Germany could be forced into submission with bombs alone. He regarded this as a higher priority than hitting targets directly supporting the forthcoming invasion of France.

In part the attacks on the heart of Germany had provoked Goering, head of the Luftwaffe, to order Operation Steinbock - the bombing of London -that had begun again seriously in January.

Apart from the casualties in London the main effect of Operation Steinbock was the decimation of Germany's bomber force in the west. 329 Luftwaffe bombers would be shot down during the early part of 1944 as they faced much improved air defences over Britain, including radar equipped night fighters. There would be few bombers left to attack the Allied forces in Normandy.

We probably saw more fighters today than on any other mission that I flew during the war.

But round the clock bombing of Berlin was considered to have even more prospect of rocking the Nazi regime. Now the USAAF joined in with a huge daylight raid. The largest number of bombers they had yet put together was sent to the most dangerous target in Europe.