Operation Bodenplatte (the real story?)

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Broncazonk

Something had to be done. But what?

Surrendering would have saved a lot of lives but that wasn't something the people running Germany were much concerned about.

Originally Posted by Broncazonk

Galland wanted to build/rebuild.

Was Galland's vision of a Großer Schlag against Ameican bombers really any more realistic than Bodenplatte or just another example of the Luftwaffe's late-war dreams of some big spectacular to damage their enemies' morale? See also Drachenhöhle, the planned Mistel strike on Scapa Flow.

[Leendert]

I'm somewhat puzzled by the last line in #20. Allied dump in Amsterdam on 1 Jan 1945? City was in German hands till early May 1945...
Leendert

[Franek Grabowski]

Nick
In fact, they could not surrender, and FDR's stance in Tehran effectivelly cut down any possible peace talks.
As for Galland, this is a person that deserves a honest biography, which would debunk a few myths around him. Hard to say without a proper research into structure of command, but doubtless he was one of the key figures responsible for the collapse of the Luftwaffe.
Franek

[Broncazonk]

Originally Posted by Leendert

I'm somewhat puzzled by the last line in #20. Allied dump in Amsterdam on 1 Jan 1945? City was in German hands till early May 1945...
Leendert

LOL! Sorry. ...the port of Antwerp.

Bronc

[Broncazonk]

Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski

[Galland]...but doubtless he was one of the key figures responsible for the collapse of the Luftwaffe.

Franek

Interesting point. It deserves its own thread, but would you please briefly touch on this?

If portrayed honestly/accurately in a screenplay/film what would the most accurate presentation of Galland look like? (Everyone knows the carefully curated persona and reputation, but what was the real story? Is it even possible to tell it? Like Hartmann, Galland has an eternal fan club.)

Once again, Leendert, please forgive me. The port of Antwerp, not Amsterdam.

Bronc

[Franek Grabowski]

Well, there are tidbits here and there, suggesting he was actually a bit different person, see eg. account of Galland in Sicily in 1943 in Prien's JG 53 history.
Symptoms of collapse of Luftwaffe appeared in 1943, and in fact the poor performance cannot be explained by outnumbering of the Luftwaffe. In fact, researching a number of 1944 combats, I have noticed that Jagdwaffe had a numerical local advantage but still performed bad. Thus obviously, they were either poorly trained or had bad tactics or both, and this was area of responsibility of Galland. My impression is that Luftwaffe never learned how to fight in large formations against large formations.