Unternehmen Bodenplatte
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Operation Bodenplatte | |||||||
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| Part of Battle of the Bulge, World War II | |||||||
 Overview of the operation. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
 United States United Kingdom |
 Germany |
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| Strength | |||||||
| Eighth Air ForceNinth Air Force 2nd Tactical Air Force |
About 1,035 aircraft, including 900 fighters and fighter bombers. | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 465 aircraft damaged or destroyed. | 304 aircraft lost, 238 pilots dead or captured. | ||||||
| Western Front (World War II) |
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| France - The Netherlands - Dunkirk - Britain - Dieppe - Villefranche-de-Rouergue - Normandy - Dragoon - Siegfried Line - Market Garden - Aintree - Scheldt - Hurtgen Forest - Aachen - Bulge - Colmar Pocket - Plunder |
Unternehmen Bodenplatte (German: "Operation Baseplate" or "Operation Ground Plate"), launched on January 1, 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries of Europe. It was a last ditch effort to keep up the Wehrmacht's momentum during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge. The operation has mistakenly been referred to as Operation Hermann (see below).
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[edit] Bodenplatte
[edit] The plan
The Luftwaffe High Command made plans for a major blow against the Allied air power in north west Europe. It was originally scheduled to support Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, the German offensive into the Ardennes region on December 16, 1944. However, the same bad weather that prevented the Royal Air Force, United States Army Air Force and other Allied air forces from supporting the ground troops, also prevented the Luftwaffe from carrying out the attack. It was therefore not launched until 1 January 1945 in an attempt to help regain the momentum of the struggling ground troops, supporting the second phase of the offensive, Unternehmen Nordwind.
The plan called for a surprise attack against 17 Allied air bases in Belgium, Holland, and France. The object was to destroy or cripple as many Allied planes, hangars and airstrips as possible. Every fighter and fighter-bomber unit currently occupied with air defence along the Western Front was deployed, and additional units of Junkers Ju 88 and Junkers Ju 188 night-fighters acted as pathfinders. The strike planes themselves were mostly single-engined Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf 190 fighters. It was hoped the speed with which the attack could be carried out would offset the relatively small bomb load such aircraft could carry.
[edit] The units deployed and their targets
In all, around 1,035 aircraft were deployed from several Jagdgeschwadern (JG), Kampfgeschwadern (KG) and Schlachtgeschwadern (SG);[1] of these approximately 900 aircraft were fighters and fighter-bombers. Facing the German aircraft were the (predominantly British) Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) and the USAAF Eighth Air Force and Ninth Air Force.
The targets for the various units were:
| Target | Luftwaffe unit | Allied forces | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antwerp-Deurne (Belgium) | JG 77 | Mostly Typhoon squadrons, 2nd TAF | Light damage |
| Asse (Belgium) | JG 11 | four Spitfire squadrons, 2nd TAF; US 352nd Fighter Group; US 366th Fighter Group | medium damage |
| Brussels-Evere | JG 26 and JG 54 | A large number of US and 2nd TAF fighters and bombers | heavy damage |
| Brussels-Grimbergen | JG 26 and JG 54 | Only six aircraft were present | Medium damage |
| Brussels-Melsbroek | JG 27, JG 54 and JG 4 | Three reconnaissance squadrons, 2nd TAF; three bomber squadrons, US Eighth Air Force | Heavy damage |
| Eindhoven (Holland) | JG 3 | eight Typhoon squadrons and three Spitfire squadrons, 2nd TAF | Heavy damage |
| Ghent/Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Belgium) | JG 1 | three Polish Spitfire squadrons (No. 302, 308 and 317), 2nd TAF | Heavy damage, intense dogfights |
| Gilze-Rijen (Holland) | JG 3 and KG 51 | Unknown | Medium damage |
| Heesch (Holland) | JG 6 | five Spitfire squadrons, 2nd TAF | No effect |
| Le Culot (Belgium) | JG 4 | Thunderbolt squadrons, Ninth Air Force | Airfield not found, no damage |
| Maldegem (Belgium) | JG 1 | One Spitfire squadron, 2nd TAF | Heavy damage |
| Metz-Frescaty (France) | JG 53 | About 40 Thunderbolts, 365th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force | Medium damage |
| Ophoven (Belgium) | JG 4 | Thunderbolt squadron, Ninth Air Force | Light damage |
| Sint-Truiden (Belgium) | JG 2, JG 4 and SG 4 | Thunderbolt squadrons, Ninth Air Force | Medium damage |
| Volkel (Holland) | JG 6 | At least two Tempest squadrons, 2nd TAF | Light damage |
| Woensdrecht (Holland) | JG 77 | Five Spitfire squadrons, 2nd TAF, all in the air | No effect |
| Ursel (Belgium) | JG 1 | Spitfire squadrons, 2nd TAF | Medium damage |
[edit] Aftermath
A total of 465 Allied aircraft were damaged or destroyed, 70 of them in the air. Most of the targeted airfields remained out of action for up to two weeks following the attack. Due to Allied fighter counterattacks, and surprisingly numerous Allied anti-aircraft guns — intended to prevent V-1 attacks — the Luftwaffe lost 304 aircraft, 277 of which were fighters or fighter-bombers: 62 were lost to Allied fighters, 88 to AA guns and 84 to German Flak guns. (Because of the secrecy of the mission, German Flak commanders had not been briefed on the mission and the crews opened fire on their own planes, both on the way to and from the targets.)
The Luftwaffe lost 238 pilots killed, missing, or captured, and 18 pilots wounded, including three Geschwaderkommodoren (British group commander/USAF wing commander), six Gruppekommandeuren (British wing commander/USAF group commander), and 11 Staffelkapitäne (squadron commanders) - the largest single-day loss for the Luftwaffe. Thus, Bodenplatte was a short-term success but a long-term failure, for while Allied losses were soon made up, lost Luftwaffe aircraft and pilots were irreplaceable by the struggling Germans, leaving the Luftwaffe "weaker than ever and incapable of mounting any major attack again".[2]. Bodenplatte became the final major Luftwaffe offensive in World War II.
[edit] Galland's alternative - the Big Blow
Adolf Galland, holding the office of General der Jagdflieger, argued strenuously against Bodenplatte. He envisioned striking a Große Schlag ("Big Blow") against the Allied bombers, which he saw as a greater threat and less replaceable by the enemy. Throughout 1944, he strived to accumulate a large reserve of men and aircraft to attack the bomber raids in massive waves. Galland argued that this plan would cause far fewer pilot casualties then the offensive sweeps of Bodenplatte, as German pilots forced to bail out or crash land would do so over Germany, and therefore be able to fly again. In late 1944 and early 1945 the Luftwaffe's main concern was not a lack of aircraft. It was a serious shortage of experienced pilots.
Following the operation, Galland and other high-ranking Luftwaffe Pilots and Commanders joined in the so-called Fighter Pilots Revolt, in which they protested the pointless sacrifice of so many valuable men and machines. The high-ranking officers who joined in this protest were mostly removed from their positions and sent back to combat units. Galland himself was removed as General der Jagdflieger and returned to duty as a fighter pilot.
[edit] Operation Hermann
Following the raids, the Allies retrieved several log-books from crashed German aircraft. In several of these, the entry "Auftrag Hermann 1.1. 1945, Zeit: 9.20 Uhr" was translated as "Operation Hermann to commence on 1 January 1945, at 9:20am." This led the Allied to believe that the operation itself was named Hermann, and one assumed it was named for the Luftwaffe commander, Hermann Göring. In fact, the word Hermann was a standard term for the time of the attack, similar to H-Hour in Allied terminology.
[edit] Notes
- ^ For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organization
- ^ Weinberg, A World At Arms, p 769
[edit] References
- John Manrho & Ron Pütz, "Bodenplatte, The Luftwaffe's Last Hope", ISBN 1-902109-40-6
- Cajus Bekker, Angriffshöhe 4000., ISBN 3-453-87098-0
- Steven J. Zaloge, Howard Gerrard, Battle of the Bulge., ISBN 1-84176-810-3
- Werner Girbig, Start im Morgengrauen, ISBN 3-613-01292-8
- Gerhard Weinberg, A World At Arms
