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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

A formation of B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft on the way to bomb industrial targets in Germany, early 1944. Starting in late 1942 through October 1943, B-17s, along with B-24 Liberator strategic bombers conducted unescorted daylight precision bombing raids on German industrial targets. However, these raids temporarily ceased after the disastrous unescorted raids in August and October 1943 produced unsustainable aircraft and aircrew losses. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

B-17 formation under attack during a bombing raid on an industrial target in Germany, probably sometime in 1943. By fall 1943, German antiaircraft defenses—fighters, ground-based anti-aircraft artillery batteries and specially designed flak towers around key industrial centers—had become quite formidable. The black smoke dots came from exploding AAA shells, fitted with proximity fuses. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe ground crew positioning a Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 equipped with an underwing gondola cannon kit, assigned to a Luftwaffe squadron in France, late 1943. The cannon was especially effective in attacking American strategic bombers. This aircraft was one of several types of German fighters that engaged B-17 bombers and P-51 fighters during Operation Argument. (Archive photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

Photo taken by a German fighter during a head-on attack on an American B-17 Flying Fortress, possibly in 1943. The black smoke comes from hits made by the German fighter on the B-17. (Archive photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

Several Luftwaffe officers inspect a crashed B-17 somewhere in Germany. Between August 1942 and May 8, 1945, Eighth Air Force flew 10,631 missions and lost 4,145 B-17s, each with a 10-man crew. (Archive photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

Two P-51D Mustangs at an English airfield in early 1944. The ground crew is fitting the second of two underwing fuel tanks, which allowed the Mustangs to escort American strategic bombers to their targets inside Germany, engage German fighters and return to their bases in England. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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Operation Argument (‘Big Week’): The beginning of the end of the German Luftwaffe

Results of an Army Air Force fighter sweep on a Luftwaffe air field. Starting with ‘Big Week,’ American fighters, after escorting bombers to their targets in Germany, would strafe Luftwaffe airfields to catch the German fighters on the ground or on takeoff or landing. (Archive photo)
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