Directive Pointblank
This directive, issued by the Combined Chiefs of Staff o n J une 14,
1943, determined the German aviation industry as a prime target for
the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive. The G erman f actories were
within the American bombers‘ range, however the USAAF did not have
the escort fighters w ith s ufficient ran ge ava ilable yet . The rai ds to
such a distant targets were flown partially over the German territory
and over the target without the fighters‘ cover. From May to July these bombing missions were concentrated on the Focke-Wulf factories
in Kassel, Bremen and Oschersleben and even though the attacking
units suffered heavy losses the missions were deemed successful.
The series of raids on Hamburg, as mentioned earlier, is an example of
the cooperation between the RAF Bomber Command and 8th AF when
the RAF night missions were supplemented by the consequent USAAF
raids during the day. The example of the mission with catastrophic losses suffered by the attacking airplanes is the raid on Regensburg and
Schweinfurt conducted on August 17, 1943 and flown by 376 B-17Fs
from 16 bombing groups on the anniversary of the 8th AF first independent mission. Even though the raid caused serious damages to the
enemy the own losses were 60 airplanes shot down and another 55 to
95 damaged, mostly beyond repair. The raids on Wiener Neustadt and
Ludwigshafen as well as the second raid on Schweinfurt on October 14,
1943 inflicted heavy losses to the Americans.
The Battle for Berlin
During the night of 18 to 19 November, 1943 the Bomber Command
commenced the Battle for Berlin by dispatching 440 Lancasters and
4 Mosquitos on the raid. The mission was repeated during the night
of 22 to 23 November, however this time 764 bombers were attacking
and the raid was repeated the following night by 383 bombers. Till the
end of the year RAF performed 8 large scale raids on Berlin, from New
Year 1944 till the end of March 1944 another 8 raids. This sorties were
supplemented by the Mosquito raids on the smaller scale and large raids on the other large German cities such as Leipzig, Essen, Nürnberg,
Frankfurt am Oder, Magdeburg, Braunschweig, Stuttgart. Despite the
heavy losses suffered by the attackers the destruction of Berlin was
devastating. The waves of the raids were gradually destroying one neighborhood after another until there was nothing left standing. Berlin
as a symbol of Germany and Nazi power was a target of 363 bombing
raids in total. Nevertheless, 16 large scale raids flown by RAF during
five months, from November 1943 to March 1944 brought about a perfect storm. The gradual destruction of the city as well as its change
of spirit of its population during the endless waves of bombing was
masterfully described by Jonathan Littell in his novel The Kindly Ones.
Reorganization and regrouping of forces
8th AF flew its first day raid on Berlin on March 4, 1944. It was however preceded by the fundamental restructuring of the USAAF strategic
forces command in Europe. In January 1944 the USSTAF-US Strategic Air Forces in Europe command, and all the air forces operating
in Europe were put under its command including 8th and 9th AF in
Great Britain and 12th and 15th AF in Italy. Lt.Gen.Carl Spaatz was
appointed to the command, the operational officer became Maj.Gen.
Fred Anderson and Lt.Gen. James Doolittle was given the command
of the 8th AF. This reorganization has caused significant changes in
the USAAF operations in Europe, change in tactics and the equipment
as well, P-51B Mustang was arriving in the theater. The re-equipment
of the 8th AF fighter groups commenced in February 1944 and till the
summer, 14 out of 15 8th AF fighter groups transitioned to the type.
The same development was under way in the 15th AF operating out
of Italy. USAAF bombers received the fighter escorts along their route
to Germany and back regardless if they took off from Britain or Italy.
The primary tactical aim was the destruction of Luftwaffe. This mission was spelled out by the USAAF Chief of Staff, General Arnold, who
in his New Year’s speech to the personnel said :“Destroy the enemy
air force wherever you find them, in the air, on the ground and in the
factories.“
The Luftwaffe was reorganized as well. On February 5, 1944 the
Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, OKL was established. It’s interesting
to learn that until then Luftwaffe, contrary to the Navy and Wehrmacht, did not possess the supreme command and was directed by the
Reich‘s Aviation Ministry-RLM. The direction of the units and combat
missions, inspection of the equipment, lodging, communication and
anti-aircraft artillery were still under OKL command. RLM continued
to direct the training, administration, protection of the civilians and
technical development. At the same time the Luftwaffenbefehlshaber
Mitte was replaced by Luftflotte Reich which was still responsible for
the Reich’s air defense-Reichsluftverteidigung.
Bf 109G-6/R6 „Red 29“, 2./JG 302 operating from Helsinki-Malmi in early 1944 under tactical designation Einsatzkommando Helsinki. Note black lower surfaces on the starboard wing and the flame-damping exhaust covers. Photo: SA-Kuva
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INFO Eduard - July 2021