On Dec. 16, 1944, Hitler launched his massive offensive in the Ardennes Forest. He committed his best remaining ground forces in the west to the attack. It took the Americans by surprise and created a bulge in the line that gave the battle its name. The tanks and infantry assault was to be accompanied by an all-out effort by the Luftwaffe, but bad weather kept it grounded for a couple of weeks. The weather actually was an advantage for the Germans because the feared Allied dive bombers could not take part in the defense of the Ardennes.
Operation Bonderplatte (“baseplate”) came out of a plan by the famed ace Adolf Galland that called for a massive fighter attack on an Allied bombing raid. It was to be called the Great Blow. When Galland fell into disfavor with Hitler because his fighter command was ineffective against the constant bombing, the plan was turned over to Brigadier General Dietrich Peltz. Having been a dive bomber pilot, he changed the plan to an assault on Allied air bases. This would hopefully allow ground units in the Ardennes to renew the stalled offensive. The problem was that although the Germans had plenty of fighter aircraft, it lacked fuel and experienced pilots. Most of the pilots were “timid, inexperienced, and scared”, according to one ace. Nevertheless, over 1,000 fighters were committed to the attack. The plan was to hit 16 airfields in the early morning of Jan. 1, 1945. The date was chosen because of clear weather, the fact that many of the Americans and British would have partied the night before was just an added bonus. Because of this the operation is sometimes known as the “Hangover Raid”.
The mission was top secret. Many of the pilots were not told about it until that morning and many were barely briefed on what they were supposed to do! In some cases, they were basically told to follow the leader. Flares were dropped by pathfinders to show the way. The Germans flew at under 150 feet to avoid radar, but this made them vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. From both sides, because many German flak units were not told about the plan. To make matters worse, some of the planes were routed over high flak areas, like the V-2 rocket sites.
In spite of these problems, many German fighters (Me. 109s and Fw. 190s) made it to their targets. It was a total surprise. Some unlucky Allied pilots were caught taking off. But some were returning from missions and shot down some German planes. Lt. Melvyn Paisley shot down 4 Germans, the last with a rocket! Most German planes were able to strafe and bomb the sitting duck Allied planes. 250 were destroyed and 150 were damaged, so the day was a tactical victory for the Germans. However, 200 German planes were shot down (most by anti-aircraft fire and some by friendly fire). More brutally, 143 precious pilots were killed or missing and 70 were captured. The Anglo-Americans were able to replace the lost planes in about a week. So, in the long-run, the operation was a loss for the Germans. Just like the Ardennes Offensive.
https://www.historynet.com/luftwaffes-last-blow-the-final-major-aerial-offensive-of-nazi-germany/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bodenplatte
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_bodenplatte.html
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