The AAF Pursues Victory in Europe

In February 1945, as the Allied ground armies began to push into Germany, the Allied air leaders, despite their earlier concern, were deter- mined to intensify the air attacks and force the Germans to surrender. On February 3, nearly 1,000 B-17s bombed targets in Berlin, while roughly 400 B-24s attacked railway and oil targets around Magdeburg. Some 25,000 civilians were killed, raising the charge that the United States was conducting terror bombing attacks. Spaatz vehemently denied these charges and pointed to the many times he had refused to carpet bomb German cities and instead went after strategic targets. In any case, the strategic forces continued as before, concentrating on German oil produc- tion and transportation facilities and adding new targets, such as the Ger- man jet aircraft industry, when necessary. For example, on February 16, the Fifteenth Air Force bombed an Me 262 plant near Regensburg.

In mid-February, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) asked the air force to implement Clarion, a plan designed to use all available Allied air power in strikes against German communications to damage the enemy's economy and help the tactical situation. As a re- suit, Allied airmen attacked grade crossings, stations, barges, docks, signals, tracks, bridges, and marshaling yards. The strategic air forces also responded to requests from the Soviet Union to assist on the eastern front by bombing targets such as the railroad center at Oranienburg.

Meanwhile, the Allied ground forces were advancing on the Rhine, and the tactical air forces increased the tempo of attack. Day after day the fighter-bombers and medium bombers relentlessly strafed and bombed columns of troops, trucks, tanks, and horse-drawn carts.

On the morning of March 7, units of the 9th Armored Division found that the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen had been left intact by the with- drawing Germans. They immediately seized the bridge and notified Bradley, who ordered all available forces to cross the bridge using utmost speed. By the end of the day on March 8, the Americans had enlarged the bridgehead to nearly a mile and a half in both depth and width. When the Germans counterattacked, the IX Tactical Air Command began flying intensified armed reconnaissance missions to interdict enemy reinforcements. Beginning on March 13, and continuing through March 24, the command flew over 6,000 sorties and bombed an assortment of rail and road targets. Claims included over 1, 700 motor transports, over 200 tanks and armored vehicles, approximately 200 locomotives, 3,500 railway cars, and nearly 500 railroad cuts. The fighter-bombers also attacked German strong points, gun positions, troop concentrations, ammunition dumps, and defended villages.

On March 23, U.S. First Army troops moved out of the Remagen bridgehead and advanced to the Sieg River. At the same time, British and Canadian troops began assaulting German positions on the Rhine north of the Ruhr. As part of the plan, the U.S. IX Troop Carrier Command launched over 2,000 aircraft and gliders to drop almost 15,000 airborne troops, 109 tons of ammunition, 645 vehicles, 113 artillery weapons, and other equipment and supplies. The airborne forces landed near the German town of Wesel and soon linked up with the advancing Allied ground troops. The Allies encircled the Ruhr valley and organized resistance in the area ceased on April 18 as approximately 300,000 German troops surrendered.

The Allied strategic air forces continued flying missions throughout April, facing flak and German jet aircraft, but only the weather could stop them. Toward the end of the month, the heavy bombers ran out of worthwhile strategic targets and turned to support the ground troops.

As the Allied ground and air forces surged into Germany, Hitler appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz to be his successor and then committed suicide. On May 7, German officials surrendered at Eisenhower's headquarters, and the European war ended.