Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce the May FSO:
Der Kanalkampf: Donner von ObenWritten and designed by Husky01 and I, with help from Guppy35.
Please update your squad numbers, side and ride preferences before it closes Thursday. If you have any questions, or would like to volunteer for CIC duty, please contact me here or by PM.
In January 1943, the Casablanca conference ended with a call for the unconditional surrender of the Axis countries. Strategies to achieve this were established and implemented. The Combined Bomber Offensive was developed as a way to bring immediate and intense pressure upon Nazi Germany. The Offensive’s objective was "the progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people to the point where their capacity for armed defense is fatally weakened."
Four months later…..
It is now May 1943, the air war over Occupied France and Nazi Germany is starting to boil over. The 8th Air Force’s daring daylight raids are suffering numerous casualties largely due to the lack of available long range escort fighters. Although the 8th Air Force’s newly acquired P47 squadrons - the 4th, 56th and 78th fighter groups - help with the lack of long range escorts, they are still insufficient to escort the large number of Allied bombers which are making runs deeper and deeper into enemy territory.
Since the RAF is using the majority of its heavy bombers during night operations, it is not unusual to see large formations of Allied fighters escorting the RAF’s deadly Typhoons and Mosquito dive bombers during the day. The RAF dive bombers focus on slowing down the Axis railroad and convoy supply lines. Of course, to insure these raids are successful cooperation between the USAAF and the RAF is absolutely critical; but with faulty radios and malfunctioning equipment, this is sometimes easier said than done.
Even with the new long range escort fighters, growing cooperation between the RAF and USAAF, and the feeling that the air war may slowly be turning in the allies favor, the allied air units still must overcome their greatest obstacle: fending off and defeating the deadly German Luftwaffe.
The Allies are sending a variety of aerial attacks into occupied France and Germany - ranging anywhere from escorted high-altitude heavy bomber raids, large fighter sweeps, and dangerous low level attacks. This causes the Luftwaffe to scramble into action without knowing what they may encounter. This would become the norm for the Luftwaffe in the west for the next two years.
In this FSO, we will try to recreate the fierce air war over Occupied France and Nazi Germany when the Allied 8th Air Force and RAF faces the German Luftwaffe in May of 1943.