Notes 13: The Allies Close in on
Germany + the Air War in
Europe
World Wars – Hamer
May 13, 2011
War in the Air
General Theory of Allied Bombing
of Germany
• At first England tried strategic bombing of Axis
targets
– Casualties were high with daylight raids, but also with
nighttime raids…
– Switched to bombing of Axis industrial cities in 1942
• At the Casablanca Conference in 1943 the Allies
adopted a “round-the-clock” bombing policy
– US would bomb Germany during the day
– RAF would bomb at night
Main Allied Bombers
B-17 and B-24
British Avro Lancasters
• Most advanced technologically
• Mainly night bombers
• Not pressurized, open windows…
inside of the plane often fell to
between -20 and -40 F
Left to right: Lancaster; B-17 formation radar bombing Germany; B-24
An Eye for an Eye
• With the adoption of the concept of area bombing,
the Allies chose to bomb civilian centers just like the
Germans had
• Even worse for the Allies, they were really terrible
at it (missing targets by miles or more)
– By 1942 improved radar technology and the Pathfinder
squadron formations allowed for more precision
• The mixed Pathfinder squadrons had light, highaltitude Mosquitoes that would “mark” the area to be
bombed with incendiary bombs and then back up the
heavy bombers as they attacked
Long Distance Capabilities
• Once the Allies began to
precision bomb targets such as
German aircraft factories and the
12 Germany synthetic oil
factories, they needed fighters
that could reach to Berlin and
back to defend the daylight
bombers.
– Auxiliary droppable fuel tanks
were used
– The P-51 Mustang became the
first long range heavy weight
fighter with the performance
of a shorter range plane
Fire Bombing of Hamburg
• Total bombing between July 24-30, 1943.
• Initial bombing burst the water mains in over
800 places
• Dry weather and inability to properly fight the
fire along with the layout of the old city led to a
firestorm on the night of July 27/28 when the
city was bombed by 787 aircraft guided by
Pathfinders
– RAF managed a very concentrated drop of almost
600 bombs in an area of approximately 2 square
miles
Fire Bombing of Hamburg cont.
• An area of 62,000 acres was burned in the city
during a firestorm that lasted approximately three
hours and reached 1500 F in the center.
• 30,000-40,000 people were killed, many suffocated
when the firestorm sucked the air out of their
basement shelters.
• John Keegan on firestorms:
– “A firestorm is not an effect that a bombing force can achieve at
will; it requires a particular combination of prevailing weather
conditions and the overwhelming of civil defenses. When such
circumstances are present, however the consequences are
catastrophic. A central conflagration feeds on oxygen drawn from
the periphery by winds which reach cyclone speed, suffocating
shelterers in cellars and bunkers, sucking debris into the vortex
and raising temperatures to a level where everything inflammable
burns as if by spontaneous combustion”
– PLAY DVD OF: BBC Total War 22:47 – 28:30
Lancaster bombing Hamburg January 1943
Hamburg after the bombing
Pre-Overlord Bombing
• During the Spring of 1944 Allied air bombing
vacillated between strategic bombing of
French railways and the continued area
bombing of German cities
• The destruction of the French railway system
effectively stifled German troop movements
before and after D-Day
– Germany still moved both troops and supplies
(even vehicles) by train
– Panzers were only ones that moved themselves
Bombing of Dresden
February 13-15 1945
• Approximately 1300 Allied bombers dropped
almost 4000 tons of bombs and incendiary
devices on the city
• Resulting firestorm destroyed fifteen square
miles with the estimated dead between 24,00040,000
• British worried that if the Soviets couldn’t
continue their push, Germany would hold out
even longer
• Horrible destruction so close to the end of the
war
Bodies Piled to be Cremated after
Dresden Bombing
Dresden After the Bombing
Axis Bombing Strategy
• The Luftwaffe was run by former army
commanders and therefore became a support
piece for the army
– Long range heavy bombers were never developed
– Bombing of Britain was conducted with mediumrange bombers
• The Red Air Force (USSR) followed the same
path
Hitler’s Focus on Rockets
Hitler’s Secret Weapons PART 1
• During the war, Hitler had focused the
German army’s attention on creating new and
deadlier weapons.
• Originally, the research was focused on a
nuclear weapon, but this was later put aside
because it was considered too slow and
costly.
• While some weapons did not work, like the
vertical take-off plane, many were successful
and revolutionary.
Hitler’s Secret Weapons PART 2
• The V-1 Flying Bomb was
created in Germany by1942.
• It operated on a jet-pulse
engine with a gyroscopic
guidance system.
• After initial flight problems
were fixed, the V-1 was first
used against England
beginning in June of 1944.
• The V-1 had to be
launched from
ramps on the
ground or from
planes.
Hitler’s Secret Weapons PART 3
• The British knew the V-1 was coming because of its
characteristic buzzing noise, which gave it the
nickname of “buzz bomb”.
• The V-1 killed over 6,000 people and injured almost
18,000 in London.
• British countermeasures involved sending
misinformation through Double Cross to convince
the Germans that they were aiming wrong.
Spitfire tips a V-1 midflight
Hitler’s Secret Weapons PART 4
• Next, the Germans invented
the V-2 Rocket.
• This was an improvement
on the V-1 because it could
fly faster than the speed of
sound.
• It flew so quickly and quietly
that the British did not
know what hit them when
the V-2 attacks began in
September of 1944.
Hitler’s Secret Weapons PART 5
• The V-2 flew so quickly on its alcohol and oxygen
fuel that countermeasures were useless; thankfully
by March of 1945 the Allies had captured or
destroyed the V-2 launch sites.
• The V-2 technology and those who created it would
later be brought to America and the Soviet Union to
create rocket technology that would take us into
space.
Hitler’s “Secret Weapons”:
Too Little, Too Late!
V-1 Rocket:
“Buzz Bomb” - first guided missile - used
against Allies since June 1944
V-2 Rocket - supersonic, first successfully fired on
September 8, 1944
Werner von Braun
Questions on Bombing of Civilians
• Did the bombing / firebombing of civilians on
either side make a difference in ending the
war?
• In other words – is the killing of thousands of
civilians justified?
Closing in on Germany
July 20, 1944 Assassination Plot
Major Claus von
Stauffenberg
July 20, 1944 Assassination Plot
• Culmination of years of
planning and attempted
plots
• Approximately 7,000
were arrested by the
Gestapo and almost 5,000
were executed
1. Adolf Hitler
2. Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel
3. Gen Alfred von Jodl
4. Gen Walter Warlimont
5. Franz von Sonnleithner
6. Maj Herbert Buchs
7. Stenographer Heinz Buchholz
8. Lt Gen Hermann Fegelein
9. Col Nikolaus von Below
10. Rear Adm Hans-Erich Voss
11. Otto Gunsche, Hitler's adjutant
12. Gen Walter Scherff(injured)
13. Gen Ernst John von Freyend
14. Capt Heinz Assman(injured)
Allied Advance after Paris
Allied Decision –
What to do After Paris PART 1
• Germany appeared beaten after the recapture of Paris
– The Allies had recaptured France
– Soviet Union was moving in from the East
– Allies wanted to end the war in 1944
Allied Decision –
What to do After Paris PART 2
• 2 options
– Montgomery proposed a single pronged attack
towards the Ruhr
• This would involve Monty’s armies leading the
attack and Patton’s standing still to preserve
supplies
– Eisenhower wanted a broad front strategy instead
• Even though the Allies were having supply
shortages since their only ports were still back in
Normandy
Monty’s Plan and Outcome
September 1, 1944
December 15, 1944
Allied Issues Fall 1944
• Manpower shortages
– England didn’t have anyone else
– America was stretched from a 2-front war
• Overconfidence
– Had issues with intelligence and underestimating
German reserves in the West
• Troops were outrunning supplies and Allies needed
a port nearer to the front – were hoping for
Antwerp in Belgium
– Allies captured the port of Antwerp in September 1944,
but Hitler controlled the estuary leading from the port
Operation Market Garden PART 1
• Planned for September 1944
• Montgomery’s plan
– Wanted to cross the Rhine in
Holland to outflank the Siegfried
line
– Wanted to threaten the V2
launch sites in Holland
• Allied paratroopers would be
dropped in to control bridges
– Would have to hold out for 3
days before reinforcements
would come
American troops cross the
Siegfried Line
Map of Plan
for Market
Garden
Operation Market Garden PART 2
• Would face 2 German Panzer
divisions
– Once again overconfidence got
the better of the Allies
• Market Garden was a huge
failure as the British 1st Airborne
Division at Arnhem faced
terrible resistance from the
German Panzer corps
– Meant the Allies would not win
the war or cross the Rhine in 1944
German troops near Arnhem
(above)
Allies Enter Germany
• Patton’s First Army were
bogged down in Lorraine
during Market Garden
– Entered Germany and took
the town of Aachen, after an
almost 3 week long battle, on
October 21, 1944
– Aachen saw 5,000 casualties
for the Allies and 5,000 dead
or injured for the Germans
with another 5,000 taken
prisoner
GI’s in Aachen 10-15-1944
German Prisoners at Aachen
Monty’s Plan and Outcome
September 1, 1944
December 15, 1944
Hitler’s Last Stand
Germany’s Ardennes Offensive
PART 1
• Hitler wanted one last offensive in the West –
hoping to defeat the Allies
– This was against the urgings of his high command who
wanted to fortify defenses behind the Rhine
• Plan was to attack the Allied line in the Ardennes
Forest, then make a drive for Antwerp to split the
Allied forces and seize the oil coming in there.
• Finally the Germans would destroy the different bits
of the Allied army that were now encircled
Germany’s Ardennes Offensive
PART 2
• Hitler sent his
best troops
and tanks into
this battle
– Tigers
– Panthers
– SS from the
Eastern Front
Vulnerable Allies
• Assumed the Ardennes were impenetrable to
tanks
• Germans assumed radio silence so Ultra didn’t
work
– But duh – what did they think the radio silence
meant?
• Germans were massing troops along the
Western Front and the overconfident Allies
ignored what this meant
Operation Autumn Fog
• Launched December 16, 1944
• Aimed at the Allied line in between British (North)
and American (South) forces
• Took Americans by surprise
– Some Nazis who spoke good English wore American
uniforms to sneak through the line and do sabotage at
the beginning of the battle
– Patton described it as: “Krauts… speaking perfect
English… raising hell, cutting wires, turning road signs
around, spooking whole divisions, and shoving a bulge
into our defenses.”
Operation
Autumn Fog
• Allies couldn’t use air
support because of
terrible weather for one
week
• Created a huge bulge in
the American lines
– Hence called “The
Battle of the Bulge”
The Battle of the Bulge PART 1
The US 75thin
the
Ardennes
Forest
during the
Battle of
the Bulge
• Hitler used seven panzer divisions, two panzer brigades and
thirteen infantry divisions for a total of 240,000 soldiers.
• The tank divisions drove 60 miles into the Allied territory
The Battle of the
Bulge PART 2
• Patton’s army was able to
break the siege of the
important crossroads town of
Bastogne on December 26,
1944
• Allied air power was able to
halt the German offensive
once the weather cleared
• This battle raged on until
January 25, 1945 when the
line was pushed back until it
was close to its original
position.
Clockwise from top left: American POW’s;
massacred Belgian civilians; NAZI soldiers in the
Ardennes; the Malmedy Massacre
The Battle of the Bulge PART 3
• By the time the battle was over, the Germans had
lost 120,000 troops (dead, wounded, or captured),
600 tanks and assault guns, and 1600 planes.
• This proved to be too much of a loss, and after this
point the Nazis were on the retreat on both fronts
– Operation Autumn Fog had pulled too many resources
from the Eastern Front and now the Soviets were closing
in on Germany
• Battle of the Bulge Maps
The Battle of the Bulge Atrocities
• Malmedy Massacre December 17, 1944: A
group of German soldiers from the 1st SS
Panzer division massacred 120 American
troops by mowing them down with machine
guns and pistols in a large field.
• In another location (Wereth) soldiers from the
same division on the same day tortured and
killed 11 African American troops