Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, his last great throw of the dice, was stagnating. After the initial German successes, the Allies had rallied. In a desperate bid to recover the momentum, the Luftwaffe aimed to gain control of the air by launching a major attack upon Allied airfields in the Low Countries ? Operation Bodenplatte. On 1 January 1945, more than 800 fighters and fighter-bombers, predominantly Focke-Wulf Fw 190s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s, were despatched in this low-level, dawn raid on Allied airfields in Belgium and the Netherlands. The object was to destroy or cripple as many Allied aircraft, hangars and airstrips as possible. Generalleutnant Adolf Galland, the man in charge of Germany's fighter force and responsible for the original plans for Operation Bodenplatte, saw that the Allies had accumulated such a strong force of aircraft that there must be heavy congestion on the airfields used by the Allies. As the Luftwaffe rarely risked daylight raids, he hoped to take the Allies by surprise and catch their aircraft on the ground in a single massive strike. Galland's plan worked. Surprise was complete, and many Allied aircraft were destroyed before they could be scrambled. Allied pilots and aircrew ran or dived for cover as the German fighters swept over the airfields of Duerne at Antwerp, Evere in Brussels, Eindhoven, Ghent and another twelve bases of the RAF's 2nd Tactical Air Force, and the American Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. But not all the attacks were as successful as Galland had hoped. At some airfields the Allied squadrons were absent, already engaged in operations and at others powerful anti-aircraft batteries took a heavy toll of the attackers. As Galland, explained: 'In Unfamiliar conditions and with insufficient training and combat experience, our numerical strength had no effect. It was decimated while in transfer, on the ground, in large air battles ... and was finally destroyed.' Figures vary enormously, though it has been recorded that 224 Allied aircraft were destroyed (of which 144 were RAF) with a further eighty-four damaged beyond unit repair. For its part, the Luftwaffe lost sixty-two aircraft to Allied fighters and 172 to anti-aircraft guns ? losses that it never really replaced, particularly in terms of aircrew. In Galland's words, the Luftwaffe 'received its death blow at the Ardennes offensive'. Told through a detailed narrative and a unique collection of dramatic photographs, the story of the last major air battle of the Second World War, is portrayed in vivid detail allowing the reader to see the destruction and devastation of the German attacks ? and the crippling losses the Luftwaffe sustained. AUTHORS: Martin Mace has been involved in writing and publishing military history for more than twenty-five years. He began his career with local history, writing a book on the Second World War anti-invasion defences and stop lines in West Sussex. Following the success of this book, he established Historic Military Press, which has published a wide range of titles. In 2006 he began working on the idea for Britain at War Magazine, the first issue of which went on sale in May 2007. This publication has grown rapidly to become the best-selling military history periodical on the high street. Martin now devotes his time to writing and editing books. John Grehan has written, edited or contributed to more than 300 books and magazine articles covering a wide span of military history from the Iron Age to the recent conflict in Afghanistan. John has also appeared on local and national radio and television to advise on military history topics. He was employed as the Assistant Editor of Britain at War Magazine from its inception until 2014. John now devotes his time to writing and editing books. 160 b/w illustrations
