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German and Allied order of battle for Operation Bodenplatte

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Unternehmen Bodenplatte (Operation Baseplate or Operation Ground Plate), launched on 1 January 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries during Second World War. The Germans husbanded their resources in the preceding months at the expense of the Defence of the Reich units in what was a last-ditch effort to keep up the momentum of the German Army (German: Heer) during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge (German: Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein).

The following is an order of battle of Allied and German forces.

German order of battle

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On 31 December 1944, the Luftwaffe had the following available for Bodenplatte under Luftwaffenkommando West (Air Command West) (Joseph Schmid):[1]

II Jagdkorps (Dietrich Peltz)

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3rd Jagddivision (3rd Fighter Division) (Walter Grabmann) at Wiedenbrück

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Parent unit Geschwader Base Unit (Gruppe/Staffel) Aircraft Type Commanding Officer
Jagdgeschwader 1 Twenthe/Drope/Rheine Stab and I./II./III. Gruppe Fw 190 and Bf 109 Herbert Ihlefeld
Jagdgeschwader 3 Sennelager/Paderborn/Bad Lippspringe/Gutersloh Stab./I./II./III./IV. Gruppe Fw 190 and Bf 109 Heinrich Bär
Jagdgeschwader 6 Quackenbruck/Delmenhorst/Vechta/Bissel Stab./I./II./III. Fw 190 and Bf 109 Johann Kogler
Jagdgeschwader 26 Furstenau/Furstenau/Nordhorn/Plantlunne Stab./I./II./III. Fw 190 and Bf 109 Josef Priller
Jagdgeschwader 27 Rheine/Rheine/Hopsten/Hesepe/Achmer Stab./I./II./III./IV. Bf 109 Ludwig Franzisket
Jagdgeschwader 54 Furstenau/Vorden III./IV. Fw 190 and Bf 109 N/A - only III and IV Gruppe took part.
Jagdgeschwader 77 Dortmund/Dortmund/Bonninghardt/Düsseldorf Stab./I./II./III. Bf 109 Siegfried Freytag

Jagdabschnittsführer Mittelrhein (Fighter Sector Leader Middle Rhine)

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Parent unit Geschwader Base Unit (Gruppe/Staffel) Aircraft Type Commanding Officer
Jagdgeschwader 2 Nidda/Merzhausen/Nidda/Altenstadt Stab./I./II./III. Fw 190 and Bf 109 Kurt Bühligen
Jagdgeschwader 4 Rhein-Main/Darmstadt-Griesheim/Rhein-Main Stab./I./II./III./IV. Gerhard Michalski
Jagdgeschwader 11 Biblis/Biblis/Zellhausen/Gross-Ostheim Stab./I./II./III. Fw 190 and Bf 109 Günther Specht
Schlachtgeschwader 4 Bonn-Hangelar/Bonn-Hangelar/Koln-Butzweilerhod/Koln-Wahn Stab./I./II./III. Fw 190 Alfred Druschel

5th Jagddivision (5th Fighter Division) (Karl Hentschell) at Karlsruhe

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Parent unit Geschwader Base Unit (Gruppe/Staffel) Aircraft Type Commanding Officer
Jagdgeschwader 53 Stuttgart-Echterdingen/Malmsheim/Kirrlach/Stuggart-Echterdingen Stab./II./.III/.IV Bf 109 Helmut Bennemann

3rd Fliegerdivision (3rd Air Division)

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Parent unit Geschwader Base Unit (Gruppe/Staffel) Aircraft Type Commanding Officer
Kampfgeschwader 51 Rheine/Hopsten/Hesepe/Munster-Handorf Stab./II./.III/.IV Me 262 Wolfgang Schenck

Allied order of battle

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RAF No. 83 Group

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The Allies had the following forces:[2] No. 83 Group RAF:

Wing Number Squadron Numbers Aircraft Type Airfield
121 174/175/184 Hawker Typhoon Volkel
122 3/56/80/274/486 Hawker Tempest Volkel
124 137/181/182/247 Typhoon Eindhoven
126 401/402/411/412/442 Supermarine Spitfire Ophoven
127 403/416 Spitfire Evre
143 168/438/439/440 Typhoon Eindhoven
39 Recce Wing 400/414/430 Spitfire Gilze-Rijen

RAF No. 84 Group

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No. 84 Group RAF:

Wing Number Squadrons Aircraft Type Airfield
131 302/308/317 Spitfire St. Denis Westrem
132 66/127/322/331/332 Spitfire Woensdrecht
135 349/485 Spitfire Maldegem
145 341/74/329/345 Spitfire Deurne
146 193/197/257/263/266 Typhoon Deurne
35 Recce Wing 2/4/268 P-51 Mustang/Spitfire Gilze-Rijen

RAF No. 2 Group

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No. 2 Group RAF:

Wing Number Squadrons Aircraft Type Airfield
139 98/180/320 B-25 Mitchell Melsbroek
34 Recce Wing 16/69/140 Spitfire/Vickers Wellington/de Havilland Mosquito Melsbroek

American Tactical Air Forces

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Ninth Air Force:

Fighter Group Squadrons Aircraft Type Commanding Officer
366 389/390/391 P-47 Thunderbolt Colonel Norman Holt
352 486/487/328 P-51 Mustang Colonel James Mayden
48 492/493/494 P-47 Colonel James Johnson
36 22/23/53 P-47 Lt Colonel Van H. Slayden
363 33 F-5 Lightning Colonel James Smelley
373 410/411/412 P-47 Colonel James McGehee
365 386/387/388 P-47 Colonel Ray Stecker
362 377/378/379 P-51 Colonel Joseph Laughlin
50 10/81/313 P-47 Colonel Harvey Case
358 365/366/367 P-47 Colonel James Tipton Laughlin

American Strategic Air Forces

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Although some of its units were present, the Eighth Air Force is not listed on the Allied order of battle.

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Girbig 1975, p. 75.
  2. ^ Manrho & Pütz 2004, pp. 288–289.

Bibliography

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