The air war in the European Theatre generally dates from 1939, but - for the United States - it dates from July 4, 1942 when the U.S. deployed U.S. Army Air Forces units to England to join the assault on Germany. The Air offensive officially came to an end on June 5, 1944, and was replaced by aerial participation in the ground offensives that started on June 6, 1944. From that day forward, all aerial offensives for U.S.A.A.F. units were coordinated with the ground offensives.
Prewar doctrine had held that waves of bombers hitting enemy cities would cause mass panic and the rapid collapse of the enemy. As a result, the Royal Air Force had built up a large strategic bomber force. By way of contrast, Nazi German air force doctrine was almost totally dedicated to supporting the army. Therefore, German bombers were smaller than their British equivalents, and Germany never developed a four engined heavy bomber equivalent to the Lancaster, B-17 or B-24.
The main concentration of German raids on British cities was from autumn 1940 until spring 1941. After that a large proportion of the strength of the Luftwaffe was diverted to the war against the Soviet Union. German raids continued on a smaller scale for the rest of the war, and later the V1 Flying Bomb and V-2 ballistic missile were both used against Britain. However, the balance of bomb tonnage being dropped shifted greatly in favour of the RAF as Bomber Command gained in strength. By 1942, Bomber Command could put 1,000 bombers over one German city. From 1942 onwards, the efforts of Bomber Command were supplemented by the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces. Bomber Command raided by night and the US forces by day. On February 14, 1945, a raid on Dresden produced one of the most devastating fires in history. A firestorm was created in the city, and between 25,000–35,000 people were killed.
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