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BODENPLATTE

The Luftwaffe's Last Hope

The Attack on Allied Airfields

New Year's Day 1945

John Manrho and Ron Putz

PUBLICATIONS

In memory ofRon Piitz, a dedicated and passionate air war historian.

He will be sorely missed. This book is a tribute to his work.

First published in 2004 by

Hikoki Publications Limited

Friars Gate Farm

Mardens Hill

Crowborough

East SussexTN6 1XH

England

Email: info@hikokiwarplanes.com

Web: www.hikokiwarplanes.com

Project Editor: Robert Forsyth

Production Management: Chevron Publishing Limited

Design and layout: Mark Nelson

Jacket design: ColinWoodman

Maps: Colin Woodman

ISBN 1902109406

reproduced or transmitted in any fOIm or by any means

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording or by any information storage without

permission from the Publisher in writing. All enquiries

should be directed to the Publisher.

©Text:John Manrho and Ron Piitz

Printed by Ofiicine Grafiche DeAgostini, Italy

Contents

Authors' Introduction and

CHAPTER 10

221

Acknowledgements

Of Pik As, Orange Tails and

Hell Hawks

Glossary

Jagdgeschwader 53's French affair

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 11

247

Prelude to the Offensive

Lost over Antwerp

December 1944 - The objectives-

Jagdgeschwader 77 orbiting Antwerp

Preparations for the attack - Pathfinders

CHAPTER 12

261

CHAPTER 2

Dawn of a New Era

The Battle of Gandawa

Kampfgeschwader 51 and

Jagdgeschwader 1 and the airfields in

Kampfgeschwader 76 buzz and bomb

western Belgium

CHAPTER 13

272

CHAPTER 3

Aftermath

Buzz Bomb Alley

An assessment and evaluation ofthe attack

Jagdgeschwader 2 and Schlachtgeschwader 4

head for St.Trond

APPENDICES:

1. Luftwaffe Order ofBattle: December

CHAPTER 4

31st 1944

275

B-78 Gets Clobbered

2. Luftwaffe Strength Report: December

Jagdgeschwader 3 hits Eindhoven

31st 1944

276

3. German fighter losses on January

CHAPTER 5

1st 1945

278

Raiders of the Lost Airfield

4.Ju 88 Lotse losses onJanuary 1st 1945

275

Jagdgeschwader 4 in search ofLe Culot

5. Summary Luftwaffe material!

personnel losses on January 1st 1945

285

CHAPTER 6

119

6. Luftwaffe aerial combat claims January

Hunting for Volkel

1st 1945

287

Jagdgeschwader 6 and problems

7.Allied Order ofBattle December

with Pathfinders

31st 1944

288

8.Allied aerial combat 10sses:January

CHAPTER 7

140

1st 1945

290

Dogfight over Asch

9.Allied materiallosses:January

The Massacre ofJagdgeschwader 11

1st 1945

291

10.Allied aerial combat claims:January

CHAPTER 8

168

1st 1945

296

Brussels revisited

11. Claims ofAAA units on Allied airfields:

Jagdgeschwader 26 and IIl.lJagdgeschwader 54

January 1st 1945

299

strike at Evere and Grimbergen

12. Known personnel casualties on

the airfields

300

CHAPTER 9

198

Bull's-eye on Brussels

Index

302

Jagdgeschwader 27 and IV/Jagdgeschwader 54

re-design Melsbroek

1939-1945 air war that will never cease to

fascinate. What is so special about this

operation? Is it the fact that it was the last full-scale

attack by the Luftwaffe fighter force? Is it the sheer

numbers of aircraft that were involved and lost? Is it

the fate of the many pilots who went missing in action

that day?

Ever since 1945 writers have dedicated pages to this

operation. Most are to be found in magazines but

scarcely a handful ofbooks have been written about the

subject. Credit should go to the late German author

Werner Girbig who has done so much important work

in the clarification of unsolved Luftwaffe losses. In fact,

his book 'Start im ]v[orgengrauen' ('Six Months to

Oblivion') dating back to the 1970s has been the

springboard for many later works. When we started

research in earnest for this book (1993), we decided

to write the ultimate work on Unternehmen

Bodenplatte making use of all available historic

documents, information from local air war historians,

but perhaps most importantly by listening to those who

actually flew on that day or to those who were at the

receiving end.

In our quest for participants we searched all over the

world and despite the fact that many of these former

youngsters are now well into their seventies and

eighties, we managed to contact German, British,

American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand,

Norwegian, Dutch and Polish airmen, to name but a

few. The list of people who contributed with personal

recollections, diary entries and photographs would

certainly run to several pages - not to mention relatives

of former airmen, the hard-working researchers in

official archives and institutions, fellow air war

historians and those who contributed indirectly. Special

thanks should go to the following contributors:

Wilhelm Ade, S. Aickelin, William M. Baggs, WW

Baird, Eric Bakker, Michael Balss, B. Barion, Karl-Peter

Bauch, John R. Beaman, Bart Beckers, R. Bedacht,

Leonhard Beitler, Herbert R. Benson, Ernst-Dieter

Bernhard, Siegfried Binger, A. Blasius, 1. Bobsien, K.

Boenigk, Oscar Boesch, Siegfried Bohmer, Richard

Bollwerk, Neville Boswell Filby, Eric Bowden, Robert

W Bowen, Rolf Braband, Rudolf Braun, George

Brooking, David E. Brown, Hermann Bruch, Rob de

Bruin, Robert V Bmlle, H. Buck, Bundesarchiv-

Militararchiv Freiburg, Bundesarchiv-Zentral-

nachweisstelle Aachen, Helmut Bunje, Eberhard

Burath, Pawel Burchard, Ewald Bi-isscher, Steve Butte,

Donald Caldwell, Pie op den Camp, S.A. Carkeek,

Francis Carrodus, Ralph Caskey, Peter Celis, James

Chaney, Carl E. Charles, Johannes Clemens, John

Clopick, Max Collett, CE. Collier, 1. Collin, Bill

Cooper, Jacob L. Cooper, Johnnie Corbitt, Coen

Cornelissen, Arthur Cossey, Geoffrey Coucke, Luc

Cox, Eddie Creek,]. Dalzell, Chuck Darrow, WE.R.

Day, Cynrik De Decker, Richard]. DeBruin, Regis

Decobek, Frederick Deeks, Deutsche Dienstelle

(WASt), G. Dickinson,Jean Dillen, H. Dolzer,Johan van

Doorn, Siegfried Doppler, Alfred Dors, Michael F

Doyle, DRK-Suchdienst, Philippe Dufrasne, Edward F

Dziadzio, T. Ecker, Werner Eggert, Jochen Eickhoff,

Hans Eisen, Phil Evans, Peter Everard, Marco

Fernandez-Sommerau, Benjamin Fischer, Paul Fischer,

Nikolaus Fischler Graf von Treuberg, Len Fisher, Don

Flowers, B. Foley, Alan Forbes, Robert Forsyth, Hugh

Fraser, A. Freifrau von dem Bussche, P. French, Alfred

Fritzsche, Georg Fureder, Klaus-Dieter Gabel,Anthony

Gaze, B.H. Gee, Bruno Genne, Albert Gerber, Ken

Gilham, Rudolf Gill, Tom Glenn, Jerzy Glowczewski, /

Ron Goebel, Heinz Gomann, Rudolf Gammel, Josef

Gottschalk, Hubert Grabmair, Franciszek Grabowski,

Georg Graf von Keller, Haymo von Grebmer, G.

Greenough, E. Grinm1, Alfred Grislawski, W Gunther,

Hans de Haan, Burkhard Hackbarth, Erwin Hackler,

Heinrich Haeffner, James Hall, Rolf Hallenscheid, A.

Hameister, Bill Harle,]. Hartkamper,Johannes Hartlein,

Karl-Heinz Hartmann, Theo Hartmann, Hans-Ji-irgen

Hauprich, Hermann Heck, Peter Heidel, Jurgen

Heider, Hans Heinz, Lothar Hemmerich, G. Hempel,

Helmut Heuser, Jan Hey, Werner Hilbert, Gordon M.

Hill, Marion Hill, M. Himpe, Werner Hoffi11ann, E.

Hoffschmidt, Werner Hohenberg, Walter Homeier,

John Hommes, H. van Hooven,Jan Horn,Julian Horn,

]. Horsfall, M. Hott,W]. van den Hout, Ron Howarth,

Roman Hrycak, Bertrand Hugot, Frans van Humbeek,

Herbert Huss, Dean Huston, Jesse V Jamieson, Ab

Jansen, Morton Jessen, Nelson Jesup, Heinz Jirousek,

Alexius von Johannides, Charles Johnson, James K.

Johnson, Hugh Johnston, Arie de Jong, Norman Junes,

Lothar Kabbe, Fritz Karch, G. Katz, Otto Keller, FH.

Kelley, G.H. Kendall, Barry Ketley, ].N. King, M.

Kirbach-Emden, Arthur T. Kirk-Waring, James H.

Kitchens, 1. Klein, Otto Kleinert, Rainer Kliemann,Jan

Kloos, Hermann Knon, WG. Knox, E. Kogler, Stefan

Kohl, Walter Kohne, Jan Koniarek, Chris Konig, E.

Koppe, Gunter Kotschote, Dieter Krageloh, Heinz

Kraschinski, Paul Krauter, Willi Krauter, G. Kroll, Joe

Lagana, Ed Lambert, Ernst Lampferhoff, Herman P.

Ledger, A.G. Lee, RV Leetham, Harald Lehmann,

Richard Levy, Hans Helmut Lindner, Ad van Lingen,

Jean-Yves Lorant, Diether Lukesch, Bert Lunt, CH.

Lunt, Samuel Lutz, M. Mackenthun, Rod MacKenzie,

Ian Maclaren, E. Manz, Horst Marscheider,].H. Marsh,

Michael Matthies, B. Mauch-von Fassong, H. Mayer,

Ace McGuire, Armin Mehling, Karl Meinert,

Friedrich-Karl Meinhof, H.G. Merriman, Hans Merx,

Helmut Metze, Erich Miedl, Wilhelm Mittag, Kees

Mol, Eric Mombeek, G.J. Morgan, Michael Mucha,

Siegfried Muller, Paul Mungersdorff, Fritz Munninger,

Ragnvald Myhre,Theo Nau, Gerhard Neumann, Peter

Nolde, Otto Noth, C Nussle, Gerhard Ohlenschlager,

Frederick Ollett, Ignacy Olszewski, Frank Olynyk,

Hans Onderwater, Karl-Heinz Ossenkop, Wayne

Owens, Melvyn Paisley, Axel Paul, George Payne,

Martin Pegg, Richard Perkins,James L. Perry,Winton P.

Perry, M. Peschel, G. Peters, L. Phieler, Gert Poelchau,

Robert Powell, Sam Prince, E.J. Pritchard, C Prollius,

John Prooi, Sherman Pruett, Ludwig Purth, Charles

Authors' Introduction and Acknowledgements

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