the Bf 109 as the main Luftwaffe fighter type. The Fw 190 proved to be more manoeuvrable and better armed, but its performance above dropped considerably. The Bf 109G and K could fight well at high altitudes and were a match for Allied fighters in performance. It was decided by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to keep both the Fw 190 and Bf 109 in production. The Fw 190s were to be used primarily as bomber destroyers while the Bf 109, the superior of the two at high altitude, would engage any escorting fighters. In total more than 11,000 heavy bombers of the RAF and USAAF were lost in the European theatre of operations between 1942 and 1945. One of the most disastrous RAF raids occurring on (October 30–31, 1943) when the RAF bombed the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, losing 96 bombers over Germany, and a further number on return to base. Unlike the Germans, prior to the war the RAF and the USAAF (under the command of General Henry H. Arnold), developed strategic bomber forces. From 1942 onwards their bombers penetrated deep into Reich's territory in increasing numbers. This forced the Luftwaffe to substantially increase the fighter allocation to the Western Front in 1943, which in the Allied intelligence estimate, accounted for 60% of the total, with the Russian Front allocated 22% and the Mediterranean Front 18% of its fighters. The British had tried to convince the Americans that daylight bombing could not be accomplished as Allied fighters lacked the range to escort bombers to and from the target. Initially the British were to be proved right, as by the end of 1943 losses nearly halted daylight raids. The USAAF maintained an unescorted daylight bombing campaign of industrial targets until October 1943, when it lost 120 bombers in two raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt. On 14 October 1943, a mission to Schweinfurt cost the Americans 60 B-17s destroyed in just over three hours of continuous attacks.Hess 1994, p. 67–68 The target of these attacks, the ball bearing plants were dispersed before the Americans returned to Schweinfurt. Albert Speer, Hitler's armament minister, said that no weapon failed to reach the front due to a lack of ball bearings. The Luftwaffe's victory in October 1943 was obvious to the Americans, General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold said, "the largest and most savage fighter resistance of any war in history". In