During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces
based in Britain and Italy launched their first round-the-clock bomber
offensive against Germany. Their goal: to smash the main factories and
production centers of the Luftwaffe while also drawing German planes
into an aerial battle of attrition to neutralize the Luftwaffe as a
fighting force prior to the cross-channel invasion, planned for a few
months later. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this aerial
offensive quickly became known as "Big Week," and it was one of the
turning-point engagements of World War II.
In Big Week, acclaimed World War II historian James Holland chronicles
the massive air battle through the experiences of those who lived and
died during it. Prior to Big Week, the air forces on both sides were in
crisis. Allied raids into Germany were being decimated, but German
resources - fuel and pilots - were strained to the breaking point.
Ultimately new Allied aircraft - especially the American long-range P-51
Mustang - and superior tactics won out during Big Week. Through
interviews, oral histories, diaries, and official records, Holland
follows the fortunes of pilots, crew, and civilians on both sides,
taking readers from command headquarters to fighter cockpits to
anti-aircraft positions and civilian chaos on the ground, vividly
recreating the campaign as it was conceived and unfolded. In the end,
the six days of intense air battles largely cleared the skies of enemy
aircraft when the invasion took place on June 6, 1944 - D-Day.
Big Week is both an original contribution to WWII literature and a
brilliant piece of narrative history, recapturing a largely forgotten
campaign that was one of the most critically important periods of the
entire war.
