Germany's Entire Air Force Attacked at Dawn — By Noon It No Longer Existed
Germany's Entire Air Force Attacked at Dawn — By Noon It No Longer Existed January 1, 1945. The Luftwaffe puts everything it has left into the air before sunrise — 900 aircraft, the largest German air operation since the Battle of Britain, aimed at destroying Allied airfields in one simultaneous surprise strike. It almost works. Hundreds of Allied aircraft are caught on the ground and destroyed. For two hours, the operation looks like the decisive blow Germany has been promising since Normandy. Then the problems compound. German anti-aircraft batteries, not told about the mission, shoot down their own aircraft returning from the raid. Allied fighters scramble faster than expected. The experienced pilots Germany no longer has are replaced by men who can fly but cannot fight. By noon, the Luftwaffe has lost over 300 aircraft and pilots it cannot replace — in an operation designed to reverse the war in a single morning. The Allied aircraft destroyed on the ground are replaced within weeks. The German pilots are not replaced at all. The last offensive the Luftwaffe ever launches is also the one that finishes it.
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