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WWII On This Day: February 21

What happened on February 21 during World War II? This date brings together 1 event from 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1944
A P-51B Mustang of the U.S. Army Air Forces in flight in early 1944.
U.S. Army Air Forces, 342-FH-3A16458-53135AC / NARA, NAID 204889474 · Public domain in the United States
Big Week and Air Superiority

The second maximum effort runs into cloud

On 21 February the Eighth launched another mass effort, roughly 860 heavy bombers with nearly 680 fighters. Cloud obscured several primary targets and forced formations onto alternates and airfields. Weather complicated both sides' command problem. Bomber formations that lost visual reference or changed target could become harder to cover efficiently, while German controllers had to judge which streams represented the main threat and where to commit limited fighter groups. Sixteen Eighth Air Force heavy bombers and five fighters were lost. The second day demonstrated the operational design of Argument: repeated…

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