Notes 13: The Allies Close in on Germany + the Air War in Europe

World Wars – HamerMay 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

British Avro Lancasters• Mainly night bombers

B-17 and B-24• Most advanced technologically• 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, high-

altitude 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 24,000-40,000

• 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 medium-

range 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 mid-flight

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.

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

Hitler’s “Secret Weapons”:Too Little, Too Late!

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

Major Claus vonStauffenberg

July 20, 1944 Assassination Plot

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 Below10. Rear Adm Hans-Erich Voss11. Otto Gunsche, Hitler's adjutant12. Gen Walter Scherff(injured)13. Gen Ernst John von Freyend14. Capt Heinz Assman(injured)

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

Allied Advance after Paris

Allied Decision – What to do After Paris PART 1

• Germany appeared beaten after the re-capture 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

RUHR

Aachen

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

RUHR

Aachen

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

• 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 US 75thin the

Ardennes Forest

during the Battle of the Bulge

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