European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Allies controlled the skies air superiority was decisive . B-17s enter France on a a bombing run shortly after a Day. Army air corp by the stars and stripes the allies controlled the skies above the a Day invasion area. That one Factor was critical to the Success of the invasion. A the Allied command of the air was plainly decisive a according to British historian Max Hastings. In his Book overlord Hastings said a the Anglo american air forces did More than facilitate the historic invasion they made it  the German Luftwaffe put fewer than 100 fighters into the Normandy skies june 6 and mounted Only 22 sorties against shipping late that evening. A Given the difficulties that the invaders suffered against the Atlantic Wall it is difficult to imagine that they could have pierced it at All had their assault been subject to serious air attack a wrote Hastings. Peter Young a retired British general and writer historian said the outcome of the invasion was practically a foregone conclusion despite the German superiority in ground forces. A the germans with 60 divisions failed to repel the allies who could Muster Only 37. But the Anglo american forces had Complete command on the sea and in the air and so it was once again a Case of the Victory of the better balanced Force a he wrote in his Book world War 1939-45, a Short history. But Allied domination of the air was no Accident. One operation of the allies combined bomber offensive a code named Pointblank a had begun 10 months before a Day. Through March the bomber offensive a primary objectives were to reduce the effectiveness of the Luftwaffe smash the German Industrial War potential and weaken the will of the German people to continue the War. In its last phases overlord and Neptune took priority. During that period the offensive had four primary objectives get and keep air superiority Over the Beach areas disrupt enemy communications and Supply channels hit German naval forces and provide Airlift for airborne troops. To ensure Success the . Army a 9th air Force and the Royal air forces 2nd tac air Force committed More than 5,500 aircraft. Of these about 3,000 were medium and Light bombers or fighter planes. The rest included transports gliders reconnaissance planes and artillery observation aircraft. The offensive succeeded. By a Day the rail network within 150 Miles of the Battlefield was at least 75 percent unusable cutting off the area from the rest of France according to bombing surveys. In its efforts to diminish the threat of the German air Force which had played havoc with Allied bombing missions in 1943 a Oil producing plants also became a priority target. That Effort succeeded and As a result the German production of aviation fuel dropped dramatically. This practically grounded the Luftwaffe made training for new pilots impossible and left fewer and fewer fighters available to meet the incoming Allied bombers. A positive Side effect was a reduction in the production of other types of Petroleum products which left Many German motorized units without sufficient fuel to mobilize and move quickly. F Rench life under German occupation by Mark k1nkade staff writer a Here a something happening a i Bernadette Emelien smother told her Al children june 3,1944. A something is  a Allied bombers were plastering German. Positions along the Normandy coastline in France. In Wierville sur Mer Emelie s family was one of about 250 who knew their lives were about to change. While the French May have resented the presence of germans in their towns they lived with their occupiers in an uneasy coexistence. For nearly four years Normandy was the front door to Adolf hitlers vaunted fortress Europe. To protect that door the third Reich moved troops into the area and built amaze of bunkers artillery emplacements and minefields along the beaches. Manning that Wall were conscripts from slavic countries German teen agers and old men unfit to fight on the Active fronts. A they were old soldiers a said Raymonde Watel. A they weren tas dreadful As the Young  Watel was a 13-year-old Wierville schoolgirl when the americans landed at Omaha Beach. A there was Strong discipline in the German army a Emelie said. A if soldiers did no to behave they were sent to Russia. Once a Soldier stole potatoes from a Garden. He was sent to  the French labourers who worked for the germans had Little Choice. Regular lives were gone. Bricklayers did no to build for anyone but the germans. Life in Normandy came to a standstill unless the germans made it move. Emelien a father was a bricklayer who worked for the germans building the fortifications. A it Wasny to slave labor a Emelie said. A but they did no to pay very Well just enough to live  before the invasion the germans in Normandy kept a Low profile. Until late 1943, the French were allowed in the streets at All hours could voice discontent with the German occupation and in general could live Normal lives Watel said. But by december 1943, the germans were worried Emelie said. They set a 10 . Curfew and started cracking Down on rules violations. In 1944, Watell a family was startled when a German pay officer stopped by late one night. He sternly warned the family that they had to leave the Home. / of Quot Quot Here was a big Row a Watel said. I a the was insistent. A you must go with Al the children and leave the country a he  the German pay officer according to Watel was an american spy. He wanted the family to a amps Ken George Watel leave because the  coming to their Back door. The family decided to remain in the House. Early on june 6, Emelien a father climbed to the top of his House and looked out on the sea. The horizon was covered with the invasion Fleet. A my father told my Mother to take us to the shelter a Emelie said. A but she said a if i have to die i die in my  my father dragged her outside to a nearby ditch and we All  her father was wounded when a Shell exploded nearby. The family hid in the ditch while the War raged outside. After an american medic treated the father the family stayed in a shelter for two Days and prayed while the War ravaged Wierville. An artillery round blew off the Church Steeple when a German sniper inside fired on american troops. A huge farmhouse used As a German Headquarters was levelled. Dozens of buildings were ruined. Farms were destroyed. Animals were killed. When Emelie and Watel returned to their farms after the Battle they realized their lives were forever changed. The Fields were covered with dead soldiers. The town and farms were smoking ruins. The americans held Wierville. On the Beach thousands of vehicles and men were coming ashore in the Days after the Battle. A there must have been no one left in. America a said Jacques Watel Raymonder a husband. A everyone was  Sis in Georg Emelie june 6, 1994 a stars and stripes commemorative edition 11