On January 1, 1945, the German Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte, its final major offensive in the skies during the last months of World War II. Designed as a surprise, low-altitude attack on Allied airfields across the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, the mission aimed to destroy as many Allied aircraft on the ground as possible. What the German High Command hoped would be a game-changing strike ultimately became a costly blow that the Luftwaffe would never recover from. Despite initial