WWII 1945 – Operation Bodenplatte: Last Hope of the Luftwaffe

Early on the morning of January 1, 1945, as the Battle of the Bulge ground to a halt, the German Luftwaffe—assumed to be starved of fuel and fighting spirit—launched a massive low-level airstrike on Allied airfields throughout France, Belgium, and Holland. More than 900 German planes took to the skies. Fewer than 600 would return. The Allied planes that were lost on the ground were quickly replaced. The German planes were not.
Duane E. Shaffer of Sanibel Public Library presents this WWII history program.