Operation Argument 1944 ― Taking on the Luftwaffe in Big Week

In the years before World War II, it was believed that strategic bombing would win wars, but none foresaw the devastation that German radar-directed interceptors would inflict on large bomber formations.

With the increasingly urgent need to eliminate German fighter-aircraft prior to D-Day, a concerted two-phase effort was launched, code-named "Operation Argument." Targeting aircraft factories with hundreds of heavy bombers escorted by the new long-range P-51 Mustang, the operation, known to history as the "Big Week" campaign, was designed to destroy aircraft production on the ground, and force the Luftwaffe into combat to defend these vital facilities--when it was intended that the new escort fighters would take their toll on the German interceptors.

Using specially commissioned artwork and maps, this is a detailed and fascinating analysis of history's first-ever successful offensive counter-air (OCA) campaign.

Doug Dildy is a USAF Academy graduate and former USAF colonel with a degree in history. He attended the US Armed Forces Staff College and USAF Air War College and holds a Master's Degree in Political Science. Doug has written campaign studies of the Battle of Britain for both the RAF Salute magazine and the USAF's Air Power History journal. He has also authored several articles covering the Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian air arms' defense against the German invasions of 1940 for notable US aviation history magazines. He is a regular contributor to the amateur modeling magazine Small Air Forces Observer. He lives in Alberquerque, New Mexico, USA.