It was a combined nutcracker - the LW was faced with an impossible task of
providing CAS in the east, air defence over the Deutschesheimat twenty four
hours of the day, and somehow cover the fighting retreat in the south. As each
"area of concern" bubbled up as Priority #1, fighter assets were syphoned away
from the other two. Without any workable solution, the force lost all
effectiveness and was ground into hamburger. Not by the Soviets, not by the
Americans, and not by the British. By all of us, doing our own thing, causing
them to run from one burning barn situation to the next, allowing us to burn
the other barns. That's what really sucks about all the nationalistic BS that
normally accompanies such discussions - folks rarely want to accept that the
Germans were beaten by an Allied concert, not any solo player.

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.