Goss, Chris The Luftwaffe’s Last Bomber Offensive

Operation Steinbock, 1944

Operation Steinbockknown to the British as the "Baby Blitz"was the Luftwaffe's final major air offensive against the United Kingdom, carried out between January and May 1944. Led by Major General Dietrich Peltz, the operation targeted London and other English cities, including Bristol, Hull, and Portsmouth. Despite its ambitious goals, Operation Steinbock was poorly planned and executed. By 1944, the Luftwaffe's bomber force was a shadow of its former self, suffering from an acute shortage of trained aircrews, fuel, and modern aircraft, while British radar surveillance, night-fighter defenses, and anti-aircraft coordination had become highly sophisticated and extremely effective. A variety of Luftwaffe aircraft types were deployed in the attacks, ranging from the four-engined Heinkel He 177A to the Junkers Ju 188, Dornier Do 217, Junkers Ju 88, Messerschmitt Me 410, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Losses among the attacking forces were catastrophicover 500 aircraft were destroyed or damaged, resulting in the loss of irreplaceable aircrews. This represented 63% of the German aircraft committed to Operation Steinbock, with an average loss rate of 77 aircraft per month. Such losses brought the German bomber force to the brink of collapse. Peltz himself summarized the campaign after the war as follows: "In my opinion, the attacks on London and other British cities were like a drop in the oceana bit of a stir, but the whole thing was forgotten very quickly." Indeed, compared to the "Blitz" of 194041, the air raids caused only limited damage. Although approximately 1,556 people lost their lives, the attacks had little impact on British morale or industry. Operation Steinbock marked the Luftwaffe's final sustained, large-scale strategic night-bombing campaign against the United Kingdom during the Second World War. In this book, Luftwaffe historian Chris Goss chronicles not only the course of the campaign but also the response of the RAF and the Allies. As the author explains, Operation Steinbock highlighted the Third Reich's waning air power and the increasing futility of offensive operations in the face of Allied air superiority. The operation's failure also undermined the Luftwaffe's ability to counter the Allied air offensive that was to immediately precede the D-Day invasion.