Operation Pointblanck
Preliminary missions for the Operation Overlord
Bombing of the factories of the German aeronautical company Focke-Wulf of Marienburg in 1943 by American B-17 bombers belonging to the 8th USAAF.
Photo: US National Archives
Operation code name Pointblank is a plan of aerial bombardment developed by the United States and Britain in 1943, relying on military airfields in England.
Its avowed aim is the destruction and progressive dislocation of the German military and economic system, and the weakening of the morale of the German people. It was also planned to put in place a final blow to the combined opponent operations on the European continent. In other words, Pointblanck was destined to prepare the ground for a fatal blow which would see the surrender of Nazi Germany.
The immediate objectives of Operation Pointblank are the construction of submarines and military barracks, aviation factories, ball-bearing plants, rubber and tire factories, oil and gas Storage facilities, as well as weapons factories as a rule.
Ironically, on the very day of planning Pointblank in Washington, the British lose 74 four-engine bombers during a raid on an ammunition factory near Pilsen. Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary that the biggest loss following the British raid on the factory was the destruction of the project design office.
