The first Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid occurred when American aircraft of the 8th Air Force struck targets in Schweinfurt and Regensburg on August 17, 1943.
The combined Schweinfurt-Regensburg Raid cost the USAAF 60 B-17s and 55 air crews. The crews lost totalled 552 men, of whom half became prisoners of war and twenty were interned by the Swiss. Aboard aircraft that safely returned to base, 7 aircrew were killed, with another 21 wounded. In addition to the bomber force, the Allies lost 3 P-47 Thunderbolts and 2 Spitfires.
I realize that this topic has been well covered on just about every aviation forum on the net, however at the moment I am reading a book about POWs in Germany and in one chapter it mentions that 35 aircrew actually evaded capture with the help of underground movements on the Continent and actually made it back to England.
In all 603 aircrew were sprinkled across half a dozen countries in Western Europe from Regensburg to the Channel and they took some time to round up. As I said, 35 made it home.
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