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The Pointblank Directive: Three Generals and the Untold Story of the Daring Plan that Saved D-Day
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 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.
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.
344 pages, Paperback
First published November 18, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 12, 2015
I really enjoyed this book, like all of the books I read, it was a historical novel. The Pointblank Directive discussed how the allies swept the sky of the Luftwaffe in the years before D-day, and how the allies took on the German war machine, and saved the future of mainland of Europe.
February 16, 2021
Great in depth material on the subject. Lots of statistics for those that like that. I learned some things about the pre D-Day planning that I thought I knew all about. Has good first person accounts as well as official data.
September 9, 2024
the book had such interesting details of the events of US Army 8th force during 1943 and up to DDay. So well written and informative. It's a must for inderstanding the air war between the allies and Germany.
this boo
May 26, 2019
Packed full of info and fast paced. Even knowing the outcome you can’t wait to read the next section. Any one interested in military aviation history, this is a must read.
January 11, 2015
The title grabbed me "..the Untold Story of the Daring Plan that Saved D-Day". Give me a break. Misleading for sure -- what is (perhaps) untold are some of the detailed accounts of American and German airmen engaged in the battle for air supremacy over France and Germany in the first 6 months of 1944. But the plan waged by the USAAF to destroy the Luftwaffe, interdict the invasion area, and otherwise degrade the ability of the Germans to interfere with D-Day's success is well-known and cited in every book on D-Day.
The book is easy to ready and is written mostly from secondary sources. The first half or so of the book covers pre-1944 when the USAAF 8th AF went on regular,unescorted bombing raids in an attempt to destroy the chokepoints of the German war industry. As anyone who has read anything on the air war will know, these raids were costly and resulted in little effective damage. Keeney adds nothing new here.
With the change in leadership and strategy starting in 1944, the Luftwaffe's attrition rate increased and more attention was spent on interdiction, especially by the tactical planes that went after airfields, bridges, marshalling yards/locomotives. What I believe Keeney adds to the popular histories of the war are the in person accounts of the American and Luftwaffe fliers as well as some accounts from Luftwaffe flak crews.
While reading, questions arose in my mind that Keeney did not cover -- firing Eaker and replacing him with Spaatz could not have been a trivial decision yet it is presented as matter-of-fact with no political back story that must have ensued.
Similarly, the equipment of US fighters with drop tanks so that the bombers would have escorts all the way to the target is also presented as matter-of-fact without any discussion as to why it happened, why it did not happen sooner, technical challenges, political battles, etc.
The British air contribution to 'winning D-Day' is barely mentioned (although admittedly, technically, the "Pointblank Directive" was the USAF operation)
So, three stars for readability but to get more stars, the story would need to be more analytical. There were also zero maps so unless you already knew where Regensburg or Munster or the Pas de Calais were, you'd be consulting other sources.
The book is easy to ready and is written mostly from secondary sources. The first half or so of the book covers pre-1944 when the USAAF 8th AF went on regular,unescorted bombing raids in an attempt to destroy the chokepoints of the German war industry. As anyone who has read anything on the air war will know, these raids were costly and resulted in little effective damage. Keeney adds nothing new here.
With the change in leadership and strategy starting in 1944, the Luftwaffe's attrition rate increased and more attention was spent on interdiction, especially by the tactical planes that went after airfields, bridges, marshalling yards/locomotives. What I believe Keeney adds to the popular histories of the war are the in person accounts of the American and Luftwaffe fliers as well as some accounts from Luftwaffe flak crews.
While reading, questions arose in my mind that Keeney did not cover -- firing Eaker and replacing him with Spaatz could not have been a trivial decision yet it is presented as matter-of-fact with no political back story that must have ensued.
Similarly, the equipment of US fighters with drop tanks so that the bombers would have escorts all the way to the target is also presented as matter-of-fact without any discussion as to why it happened, why it did not happen sooner, technical challenges, political battles, etc.
The British air contribution to 'winning D-Day' is barely mentioned (although admittedly, technically, the "Pointblank Directive" was the USAF operation)
So, three stars for readability but to get more stars, the story would need to be more analytical. There were also zero maps so unless you already knew where Regensburg or Munster or the Pas de Calais were, you'd be consulting other sources.
September 8, 2015
Great story about a part of WW2 we don't hear much about.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews