"One of our goals was to describe, as accurately as possible, the events taking place in the morning of January 1st, 1945 ... We had to refrain from going into the nightfighter attacks of December 31st, 1944, and for reasons of brevity we also had to let go of any other bomber or escort missions of the Allied air forces on January 1st. The contents of the book have been divided into chapters dealing with the individual attacks of the Luftwaffe Geschwader. As a result, the subject matter is dealt with primarily from a Luftwaffe point of view. After all, it was a Luftwaffe operation. However, we have endeavoured to create a balanced view of each attack, showing in just as much detail the Allied perspective. At the end of each chapter, we have drawn our conclusions, carefully evaluating all available Luftwaffe and Allied points of view"--Pages viii - ix.

Originally published: Crowborough, East Sussex, England : Hikoki Publications, 2004, under title Bodenplatte : the Luftwaffe's last hope : the attack on Allied airfields New Year's Day, 1945. Includes index.

Prelude to the offensive -- The Battle of Gandawa -- Buzz bomb alley -- B-78 gets clobbered -- Raiders of the lost airfield -- Hunting for Volkel -- Dogfight over Asch -- Brussels revisited -- Bull's-eye on Brussels -- Of Pik As, Orange Tails and Hell Hawks -- Lost over Antwerp -- Dawn of a new era -- Aftermath.