Bodenplatte

John Manrho, Ron Putz

• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Year: 2010
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781461750727
• Subtopic: German History
• Index: History

Definitive account of the last great Luftwaffe attack of World War II

Gripping stories of Fw 190s and Bf 109s in combat

Contains hundreds of eyewitness accounts and rare photos
In the early morning of January 1, 1945, as the Battle of the Bulge smoldered to an end, the German Luftwaffe--assumed to be starved of fuel and fighting spirit--launched a massive, surprise, low-level strike on Allied airfields throughout France, Belgium, and Holland, an operation code-named Bodenplatte. More than 900 German aircraft took to the skies and attacked the vulnerable fields, destroying 200 Allied aircraft and damaging 150 more. In a pyrrhic victory, the Luftwaffe lost 271 fighters, with many more damaged, and 213 pilots--irreplaceable losses at this stage of the war.

Table of contents

• Introduction and Acknowledgments
• Glossary
• Chapter 1 Prelude to the Offensive
• Chapter 2 The Battle of Gandawa
• Chapter 3 Buzz Bomb Alley
• Chapter 4 B-78 Gets Clobbered
• Chapter 5 Raiders of the Last Airfield
• Chapter 6 Hunting for Volkel
• Chapter 7 Dogfight over Asch
• Chapter 8 Brussels Revisited
• Chapter 9 Bull’s-Eye on Brussels
• Chapter 10 Of Pik As, Orange Tails, and Hell Hawks
• Chapter 11 Lost over Antwerp
• Chapter 12 Dawn of a New Era
• Chapter 13 Aftermath
• Appendix 1 Luftwaffe Order of Battle, December 31st, 1944
• Appendix 2 Luftwaffe Strength Report, December 31st, 1944
• Appendix 3 German Losses on January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 4 Ju 88 Losses on January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 5 Luftwaffe Material/Personnel Losses on January 1st, 1945 (excluding Lotsen)
• Appendix 6 Luftwaffe Aerial Combat Claims Related to Bodenplatte, January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 7 Allied Order of Battle, December 31st, 1944
• Appendix 8 Allied Aerial Losses Related to Bodenplatte, January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 9 Allied Material Losses, January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 10 Allied Aerial Combat Claims, January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 11 Claims of AAA Units on Allied Airfields, January 1st, 1945
• Appendix 12 Known Casualties on the Airfields
• Notes