1945: The Second World War In The Air In Photographs

Description

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. It was the start of a conflict that would erupt over every continent, see the deaths of tens of millions of people, much of central Europe destroyed, the development of jets, ballistic missiles and computers as well as the atomic bomb. 1945 saw the bomber offensive against Germany reach its peak with the controversial attack on Dresden, while US B-29 bombers carried out fire-bombing raids against Japanese cities. The Luftwaffe carried out its last major offensive in support of the Battle of the Bulge and the Japanese increasingly resorted to Kamikaze attacks. V2 rockets continued to land on British cities. British and US bombers dropped food supplies to Dutch civilians in famine-hit areas of the Netherlands. Forces occupying Germany discovered German advances in jet and rocket technology, and in August 1945 the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, ending the war.