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In The Pointblank Directive, L. Douglass Keeney draws on extensive new research to create a richly textured portrait of air power and leadership, and tell perhaps the last untold story of WW2: jow the Allies drove the Luftwaffe from the skies over Europe and saved D-Day.
As the Allies began to plan for the invasion of Europe, they faced a massive problem. Without absolute air superiority over the Normandy beaches, the success of D-Day was doubtful. The Pointblank Directive was the plan to stop the Luftwaffe.
The Pointblank Directive changed the direction of the entire Allied bombing effort in Europe. No longer would the bombing campaign range across German industry. Instead it would be focused on driving the Luftwaffe from the sky. No longer would the American fighters' primary mission be the protection of the bombers. They were now free to seek out and destroy the Luftwaffe wherever they found their foe, in the air or on the ground. The bombers would act as bait to draw the Germans up to the waiting and eager American Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings. At the same time German fighter factories were targeted to further erode the Luftwaffe's capabilities. The goal was nothing short of the destruction of the Luftwaffe to insure the success of D-Day.
At the center of the operation were three inspired leaders. General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, commander of the United States Army Air Forces, was the architect of the American daylight bombing campaign. With just five months to go before D-Day, Arnold put his lifelong friend General Carl A. "Tooey" Spaatz in command of the strategic bombing forces in Europe, while tapping aviation legend General James "Jimmy" Doolittle to lead the mighty 8th Air Force. Together with their pilots, aircrew and group personal, they were responsible for executing Pointblank.
In The Pointblank Directive, L. Douglass Keeney carefully reconstructs the events in the air war that led up to D-Day while painting an in-depth portrait of the lives and times of the men who made the victory of D-Day possible.
