List of air operations during the Battle of Europe
This World War II timeline of European Air Operations lists notable military events in the skies of the European Theater of Operations of World War II from the Invasion of Poland to Victory in Europe Day. The list includes combined arms operations, defensive anti-aircraft warfare, and encompasses areas within the territorial waters of belligerent European states.[note 1]
Main articles: List of military engagements of World War II and List of World War II military operations1939[edit]
1 September: At 4:40am the Luftwaffe starts World War II with the terror bombing of the Polish city of Wieluń. At 8:00am German ground forces cross the Polish border launching the invasion of Poland.
1 September: The Luftwaffe begins Operation Wasserkante as part of the invasion of Poland. The first air attacks against Warsaw start.
.svg){kind=small}
2 September: Single PZL.23B of the 21st Squadron of Polish Air Force bombs a factory in Ohlau. The attack represented the first Allied bombing raid to be conducted against a target in territory within the Third Reich.
3 September: Flying officer Andrew McPherson is the first Royal Air Force pilot to cross the German coast after the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany. Flying a Bristol Blenheim from 139 Squadron, his mission is to identify German maritime targets around Wilhelmshaven.[4]
3 September: The RAF launches its first raid of the war over Germany territory. Eighteen Handley Page Hampdens and nine Vickers Wellingtons are sent to attack the German warships moored at the Wilhelmshaven naval base. However poor visibility prevents the bombers from finding any targets before nightfall so they return.[5]
4 September: The RAF launches another bombing operation against German shipping. Fourteen Wellingtons from 9 and 149 Squadrons attack Brunsbuttel and 15 Bristol Blenheims from 107 and 110 Squadrons raid Wilhelmshaven bay. Five Blenheims and three Vickers Wellingtons are shot down through a combination of Messerschmitt Bf 109s and flak. They become the first British aircraft losses on the Western Front.[6] Among those killed was pilot Flying Officer Brian Lightoller, the youngest son of Titanic survivor Charles Lightoller.[7]
4 September: The first British airman to be taken prisoner was Sergeant George Booth, a RAF Observer from 107 Squadron. He was captured after his Bristol Blenheim was shot down over the German coast.[8]
13 September: The Bombing of Frampol was the war's first area bombardment
20 September: The first recorded RAF "kill" of the Second World War is the shooting down of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 by air observer Sergeant F Letchford aboard a Fairey Battle flown by Flying Officer LH Baker from 88 Squadron.[9]
20 September: The first recorded kill of the French Armee de l'Air is credited to Sergeant André-Armand Legrand, flying a Curtis H75A-1 in the Groupe de Chasse II/5 La Fayette, for downing a Messerschmitt Bf 109E of the Luftwaffe 3/JG 53 over Überherrn.[10]
27 September: The Luftwaffe ceases its bombing campaign against Warsaw after its Polish garrison surrenders to German forces. Approximately 1,150 sorties were flown by a wide variety of aircraft, including obsolete Junkers Ju 52/3m bombers.[11]
30 November: The Winter War between Soviet Union and Finland starts. Three hours after the Red Army had crossed the border and started the Winter War, Helsinki is bombed. Throughout the war, the Soviet Air Force has the air superiority and several cities in Finland are targeted.
18 December: The first use of radar for defence (an "experimental Freya radar") gave warning of RAF bombers near the German Bight as they made an attack on Wilhelmshaven.[12]: 20 However the German fighters were not permitted to intercept until visual confirmation was made - the bombers were attacked after they had dropped their bombs.
1941[edit]
10 February : Operation Colossus, the first British paratrooper raid, blew up a strategic aqueduct in Calitri southern Italy.
31 March/1 April: A bombing raid on Emden is the first use of the 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) HC "cookie" blockbuster bomb
15 April: The Belfast Blitz kills 1000, the greatest loss of British lives outside London from a night raid.
10 May: The longest blitz air raid on london killing 2324 people and 11,000 houses.
22 June - 3 July: In the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Luftwaffe achieved air superiority by destroying some 2,000 Soviet aircraft, at a loss of only 35 aircraft (of which 15 were non-combat-related).
8 July First use of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in Europe; against Wilhelmshaven
8–9 August: The Red Army Air Force began a limited bombing offensive with a raid on Berlin.[22]
15 August: Robert Stanford Tuck led the first air mission by fighters based in eastern England against enemy-occupied territories in a "Rhubarb" sweep of the Netherlands for ground targets by two Hawker Hurricanes .[17]: 215–219
18 August: A 18 Squadron Blenheim dropped an artificial leg over France for captured Wing Commander Douglas Bader.[2]
7/8 September: The heaviest RAF raid on Berlin to date, with 197 bombers, with 15 bombers lost.[23]
7 November: A large raid on Berlin lost 20 bombers and caused little damage. The head of Bomber Command, Richard Peirse, was subsequently replaced in February 1942 by Arthur Harris.
7/8 December: 251 bombers target Aachen and Brest—the Brest attack was the first operational use of the Oboe navigation system
18 December: Blenheim aircraft conducted the first night intruder attack, successfully striking Soesterberg airfield in the Netherlands with bombs and attacking two German bombers in the air with guns
1942[edit]
16 February: The first regular operations with the American Douglas Boston bomber were conducted.
8/9 March: The first city raid following 14 February Area bombing directive bombed Essen.
13/14 March: Gee radio navigation was first used during a bombing of Cologne.[24]
25/26 March: In the largest force (254 aircraft) sent to a single target to date, bombers of an Essen mission were drawn off by decoy fire from Rheinberg.
28/29 March: The Bombing of Lübeck was the 1st major success for RAF Bomber Command against a German city.
8/9 April: The largest force to date (272 aircraft) bomb Hamburg.
17 April: The Augsburg Raid is the first to attempt low-level daylight bombing for accuracy - in this case against the factory producing engines for U-boats. Half of the 12 bombers were shot down for little damage caused.
23–29 April: The first period of the Baedeker Blitz bomb the provincial cities of Exeter, Bath, Norwich, and York.
23–27 April: Bombing of Rostock.[25]
30 May: The first use of the bomber stream and the first British large scale operation, as part of Operation Millennium the first "Thousand Bomber" raid is sent against Cologne, Germany. Of the 1,047 aircraft sent, nearly 900 bombed the target area - the whole raid passing over in 90 minutes.
11–12 June: First American daylight raid over European soil, against petroleum wells in Ploiești, Romania, along with objectives in Bulgaria, the first stages of American Bombing offensive.[26]
25/26 June: The third "Thousand bomber" raid bombs Bremen, a new record of RAF Bomber Command losses (48 of 1,067 aircraft).
4 July: The first American bombing mission over enemy-occupied territory in Europe used 20 Boston bombers (plus 6 RAF-crewed Bostons) to attack the Alkmaar, Hammsted, and Valkenburg airfields --[27]: 106 only two reached the target area (two shot down, the others heavily damaged).[12]: 111
14 August: First German warplane downed by the USAAF. A German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor reconnaissance-bomber is shot down by two US fighter pilots, flying a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, off the coast of Reykjavík, Iceland. All six German airmen are killed as the plane explodes and goes into the sea.[28]
15 August: 82nd Airborne is the first US airborne division. (the first combat jumps were 8 November 1942 by the 509th Parachute Battalion in the North Africa Operation Torch).[27]: 106, 107
17 August: 12 B-17s of the 97 BG (including one with Eaker aboard) escorted by RAF Spitfires bombed the Sotteville railyard 3 miles (4.8 km) South of Rouen, France, in the "first combat action" of the Eighth Air Force and the first B-17 bombing of Europe.
19 August: 22 B-17's drop 34 tons of bombs on Abbeville/Drucat A/F in France causing extensive damage.
20 August: 11 of 12 B-17's bomb Amiens/Longeau Marshilling Yard, France at 1801 hours without loss.
21 August: 12 B-17's are dispatched to bomb the shipyards in Rotterdam, Netherlands but is aborted due to an attack by Bf 109s and Fw 190s; 1 bomber is damaged; lack of proper coordination with the Spitfire escorts is a major factor in the failure of the mission.
24 August: 12 B-17s bomb the Ateliers et Chantiers de France shipyard in Dunkirk.
August: An intense air raid damages Diehl's plant in Stephanstraße, Nuremberg.[29]
August/September: Case Blue included area bombardment during the Battle of Stalingrad.
2/3 September: The first use of the 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) High Capacity bomb (Blockbuster bomb) was against Karlsruhe.[30]: 1441
9 October: First Eighth Air Force B-24 Bombing raid, bombed Industrial Plants at Lille, France.
24 October: 88 aircraft use independent routes over France to rendezvous at Lake Annecy for a daylight raid on Milan.
12 December: B-17 303d Bombardment Group#Wulf Hound surrendered to the Luftwaffe and was assigned to Kampfgeschwader 200 in September 1943.
22 December: An unsuccessful Bombing of Frankfurt am Main in World War II was the first use of the Master Bomber tactic.
1944[edit]
21 January: The unsuccessful Operation Steinbock, the first mass bombing of London, began the Baby Blitz
30 January: The first U.S. Intruder operation was conducted by P-47s and accurately preceded the bombers to strike fighters at Villaorba airfield.
6–27 February: The Soviet Air Force launched bombing raids against several Finnish cities. The greatest air raids once again targeted Helsinki. In this manner the USSR hoped to force Finland to break its ties with Germany and agree to a peace settlement.
19/20 February: After 14.9% of Halifaxes that crossed the coast were lost on a raid to Leipzig, Handley Page Halifax Merlin engintober 1943 Second Raid on Schweinfurt
6 March: The first large scale US attack on Berlin (some 600 bombers) dropped 1600 tons of bombs - 160-170 of 800-900 fighters are shot down[27]: 113
24 April: The APS-15 "Mickey" radar was first used on a Ploiești mission.[14]
2 June: The first US shuttle bombing mission, Operation Frantic Joe, bombed Debrecen
( German fighters subsequently attack the bombers on Soviet airfields at Focşani)
2–5 June: In preparation for Operation Overlord, Operation Cover bombed transportation and airfield targets in Northern France and "coastal deed V-1 flying bombs that reached Britain (of about 1,200) were air-launched from Heinkel He 111s (403 were downed)[35]
23/24 July: The first major raid (629 aircraft) on a German city for two months bombs Kiel
25 July: Mission 494 (1581/500 bombers/fighters) supporting Operation Cobra was the most effective saturation bombing/carpet bombing/area bombardment of the Normandy Campaign,[36] killing US General McNair.
26 July: The first aerial victory for a jet fighter in air combat history occurs as a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1a of Erprobungskommando 262 mortally damages a de Havilland Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft of No. 540 Squadron RAF.[37]
28 July: The first operational use of rocket-powered point-defense interceptors occurs as Me 163Bs of I. Gruppe/JG 400 take off from Brandis to defend against a USAAF strategic bombing raid on the Merseburg/Leuna synthetic fuel production complex.[38]
July: An air raid wipes out a factory making prototype Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 helicopters in Laupheim.[39][40]
27 August: The RAF restarted daylight bombing of Germany (first since 12 August 1941) with an attack on the Homberg Fischer-Tropsch plant in Hamburg.[41]: 149
13 & 17 August: Le Havre (Mission 549) and La Pallice (Mission 559) were the targets for the first uses of the BAT guided bomb
8 September: Operation Penguin began with the first V-2 rocket launches against Paris and London
17 September: The last UK-USSR-Italy-UK shuttle bombing was completed as 72 B-17s and 59 P-51s flew from Italy without bombs to the UK; 70 B-17s 57 P-51s land safely in the UK.
18 September: Stalin finally gives permission for Allied planes to use Soviet airfields. The planes conducted air drops during the Warsaw Uprising and Operation Frantic.[42]