On January 1st, 1945, the German Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate) with 1,035 aircraft to attack Allied airfields in Northern France, Belgium and Holland. The plan was to cripple Allied Air Forces during a lull in the fighting of the Battle of Bulge. Originally scheduled for 16 December 1944, it was delayed due to bad weather.
Secrecy was to tight that the Luftwaffe lost around 25% of their aircraft from friendly ground fire. The Luftwaffe achieved an element of surprise and tactical success. However, the destroyed Allied aircraft were mostly ground kills and replaced within a week. The Allies lost relatively few aircrews, but the Luftwaffe lost many pilots that were extremely hard to replace this late in the war. The war would be over for Germany in less than six months.
The link below is a 44 minute video covering the air battle that day concentrating mostly on the battle for the airfield named Y29. Check it out!
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