"Big Week" 1944

"Big Week" 1944A rigorous new analysis of America's legendary 'Big Week' air campaign which enabled the Allies to gain air superiority before D Day. The USAAF's mighty World War II bomber forces were designed for unescorted, precision daylight bombing, but no one foresaw the devastation that German radar directed interceptors would inflict on them. Following the failures of 1943's Schweinfurt Regensburg raids, and with D Day looming, the Allies urgently needed to

A rigorous new analysis of America's legendary 'Big Week' air campaign which enabled the Allies to gain air superiority before D-Day.

The USAAF's mighty World War II bomber forces were designed for unescorted, precision daylight bombing, but no-one foresaw the devastation that German radar-directed interceptors would inflict on them. Following the failures of 1943's Schweinfurt-Regensburg raids, and with D-Day looming, the Allies urgently needed to crush the Luftwaffe's ability to oppose the landings.

In February 1944, the Allies conceived and fought history's first-ever successful offensive counter­air (OCA) campaign, Operation Argument or "Big Week." Attacking German aircraft factories with hundreds of heavy bombers, escorted by the new long-range P-51 Mustang, it aimed both to slash aircraft production and force the Luftwaffe into combat, allowing the new Mustangs to take their toll on the German interceptors. This expertly written, illustration-packed account explains how the Allies finally began to win air superiority over Europe, and how Operation Argument marked the beginning of the Luftwaffe's fall.