New Years Day

On January 1st 1945 the Luftwaffe launched a surprise dawn air assault on Allied forward airstrips in a last throw of the dice effort to inflict a major blow upon the Allied air forces.
Flying low, the attackers were able to creep up on the unsuspecting Allies.

The Luftwaffe was able to catch many Allied bases totally by surprise...

And inflict large amounts of damage.


But not everything went to plan. Ground fire took its toll...



And the Allies were able to scramble fighters to intercept.

Although both sides took heavy losses, at this point in the War, Germany was unable to sustain them whilst the Allies were more able to.
Operation "Bodenplatte" was a brave attempt to strike a major blow against Allied air power, but was the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe.

Flying low, the attackers were able to creep up on the unsuspecting Allies.

The Luftwaffe was able to catch many Allied bases totally by surprise...

And inflict large amounts of damage.



But not everything went to plan. Ground fire took its toll...



And the Allies were able to scramble fighters to intercept.

Although both sides took heavy losses, at this point in the War, Germany was unable to sustain them whilst the Allies were more able to.
Operation "Bodenplatte" was a brave attempt to strike a major blow against Allied air power, but was the beginning of the end for the Luftwaffe.