The Combined Bomber Offensive, 1943-1944

The invasion of Occupied Europe loomed, but the battle against Nazi Germany was just in its infancy. Fighter production was on the rise, tanks were still rolling off the German production lines, and the early air attacks by the Allies had resulted in meager damage. Clearly a change was in order. In 1943 that change came about through the declaration of a Combined Bomber Offensive that called for the destruction of Germany by air. Long before American soldiers set foot on continental Europe, the airmen of the Eighth Air Force brought the battle to Hitler's Third Reich. This lost history documents the critical year of the air attack on Germany as observed and recorded in 1945.