US Air Force bombs Germany

On 27 January 1943, the US Air Force bombed the harbour of Wilhelmshaven in the north of Germany. It was the United States' first attack on German territory. The action was a success. A large number of warehouses and factories were destroyed. The Germans lost 22 airplanes, the Americans only three. Wilhelmshaven was an important seaport. The Allies bombed it more than 100 times during the war.

Up until then, only the British Air Force, supported by other Allied pilots, had carried out attacks on Germany.

Until the end of 1944, the Allied bombardments were the only experience the German population had with the force of war. Many planes and crew members were lost. The Allies bombed factories, traffic junctions, and military installations on a weekly, sometimes daily basis, as well as residential areas in cities and towns. The bombings were intended to destroy the German air force and oil industry, and the British also hoped to hurt the morale of the German people and undermine their support for Hitler's dictatorship.

Flights departed from England, from southern Italy (after the summer of 1943), and from France (after the summer of 1944). Only in 1944 did the Allies gain control of European airspace. At that point, they flew as far as the occupied region of Poland to bomb German factories.

The bombings killed approximately 410,000 German civilians.