A rigorous new analysis of America's legendary 'Big Week' air campaign which enabled the Allies to gain air superiority before D-Day.
The USAAF's mighty World War II bomber forces were designed for unescorted, precision daylight bombing, but no-one foresaw the devastation that German radar-directed interceptors would inflict on them. Following the failures of 1943's Schweinfurt-Regensburg raids, and with D-Day looming, the Allies urgently needed to crush the Luftwaffe's ability to oppose the landings.
In February 1944, the Allies conceived and fought history's first-ever successful offensive counter­air (OCA) campaign, Operation Argument or "Big Week." Attacking German aircraft factories with hundreds of heavy bombers, escorted by the new long-range P-51 Mustang, it aimed both to slash aircraft production and force the Luftwaffe into combat, allowing the new Mustangs to take their toll on the German interceptors. This expertly written, illustration-packed account explains how the Allies finally began to win air superiority over Europe, and how Operation Argument marked the beginning of the Luftwaffe's fall.

Douglas C. Dildy is a retired US Air Force colonel who retired with approximately 3,200 hours of fast jet time. As commander of the 32d Fighter Squadron, he enforced the No-Fly-Zone over Iraq, making him an expert on F-15 employment. He is a USAF Academy graduate with a Masters Degree in Political Science and has authored numerous books, including To Defeat the Few for Osprey. He contributes regularly to the modelling magazine Small Air Forces Observer and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

INTRODUCTION
CHRONOLOGY
ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES
-The Pointblank Directive
-Aircraft: their capabilities, roles, and missions
-Commanders
ORDERS OF BATTLE, February 1944
DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES
-The Luftwaffe's air defence system
-Aircraft: their capabilities, roles, and missions
-Commanders
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
-"Black Week" - the crisis of American daylight strategic
bombing
-The Luftwaffe's response
-Operation Argument planning
THE CAMPAIGN
-Eighth AF Mission 226, February 20
-Eighth AF Mission 228, February 21
-Eighth AF Mission 230, February 22
-Fifteenth AF Missions, February 22, 23, and 24
-Eighth AF Mission No.233, February 24
-Eighth and Fifteenth AF Missions, February 25
AFTERMATH AND ASSESSMENT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX