Operation Bodenplatte, launched on 1st January 1945, was an attempt to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries of Europe. It was used by Hitler as a last resort to keep the Wehrmacht on the offensive during the Battle of the Bulge. Hundreds of Luftwaffe planes were sent on a secret mission, to destroy or cripple as many Allied planes, hangars and airstrips as possible. 465 Allied aircraft were damaged or destroyed. Due to Allied fighter counterattacks, and an unexpected superfluity of Allied flak guns, the Luftwaffe lost 277 planes (62 to Allied fighters and 172 to flak guns, both Allied and German). Some of the remaining planes tried to return home, however, due to the secrecy of the mission, the German flak gun crews opened fire on their own planes. Thus, Bodenplatte was a terrible failure, because the Allies were able to replace their losses quickly, but the Luftwaffe never recovered.
