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Overview: the Lowdown on the Tactical Air War
1943-1945

By mid-1943 the air war in Europe had settled into a deadly pattern for fighter pilots on both sides. Most were involved in the strategic air war; escorting or attacking bombers was their primary role, and combat in the frigid skies at 20,000 to 30,000 feet was the norm.

As the possibility of an Allied invasion of the continent took on growing certainty, the tactical air war in the west heated up and emphasized a different pilot role—flying close air support. This role put would-be high flyers down on the deck for a different kind of warfare based on air-ground teamwork. Fighter-bomber pilots were part of the army team, with direct responsibility to assist the advance of friendly forces on the ground, while keeping enemy troops and supply lines reeling under bullets, bombs, and rockets.

The German army had always viewed air power as subordinate to the forces on the ground. Close air support, using aircraft to assist the advance of troops and mobile forces on the ground, was a central part of the Blitzkrieg across Europe in 1939-40. It was also a basic feature of combat in the cauldron of the Eastern front.

As the war in the west intensified, especially after the Allied invasion of France commenced in June 1944, the Germans pressed more and more aircraft into tactical service even as the strategic bombing campaign against Germany increased the Luftwaffe's need for high-altitude interceptors.

Jets used to support ground troops
Bf 109 and Fw 190 pilots had to strafe and dive-bomb to stop or slow the flood of men and materiel of the invading armies. Ju 88 medium bombers swooped down from normal bombing altitude to place their ordnance where it would do the most good: right in the laps of the enemy. Even the new German jets saw some service in the tactical air war.

The Allies took longer to fully embrace the potential of a tactical role for combat aircraft, but perfected close air support in 1943-1945 by adding new technological variations to the tactical theme. Directed to ground targets, friendly formations in need of escort, or incoming bandits by air force liaison officers on the ground, Allied pilots carried out a Blitzkrieg of their own against anything that moved in the enemy sector.

Thunderbolts, Lightnings, Mustangs, Typhoons, Tempests, and Spitfires flew fighter-bomber duty to support the war on the ground, while Mitchell, Marauder, and Mosquito bombers added the formidable strafing power of multiple guns and cannon to the destructive force of their bombs.