By 1945 Allied commanders made two changes to their strategic and tactical air campaigns. The development and mass production of the P-51 Mustang long range fighter escort meant that Allied bombers now had fighter protection for their entire mission - even to long distance targets such as Berlin and Dresden. Luftwaffe defenders had to fight through waves of Allied fighters before reaching the bombers. Because of these "Little Angels" the RAF and RCAF were able to switch to daylight bombing. The weaker defensive firepower of the Halifaxes and Lancasters no longer mattered. Their fighter escorts provided more than enough protection.

To make matters worse for the Luftwaffe, the Allied Tactical Air Forces targeted German airbases. The aim was to destroy as many German fighters on the ground - and especially the new German jet fighters. In the first four months of 1945 the Allied air forces dropped their heaviest bomb loads of the war - over 380,000 tons of bombs - systematically destroying the transportation networks, manufacturing and city centres throughout Germany.

Here are two videos of the "Little Angles" in action. The first is actual wartime film, the second comes from the 2012 film "The Red Tails" about the Tuskegee Airmen - the first Black fighter squadron.

Air Battles Over Europe(1945) 3:11

"Red Tails" (2012) 4:11

The Germans responded with a flurry of new fighter/ interceptor aircraft designs. The most successful of these was the Me 262 - the world's first operational jet powered fighter. It's two jet engines allowed the plane to reach speeds of 900 kph - over 100 kph faster than any Allied fighter. 262 pilots discovered that the best way to attack Allied bomber was to dive down in a "hit and run". This gave the 262 pilot just a few seconds to select a target, fire his guns and then zoom away at high speed. Few 262s were destroyed in combat, they were simply too fast, so the Allies tried to ambush them during take-offs or landings or to destroy them on the ground. The Me 262 became operational in mid-1944 but most of its missions occurred in 1945. Overall 262's destroyed 300-400 Allied aircraft at a cost of 100 jets shot down.

Without question, the most exotic German fighter design was the Me 163 Komet rocket plane. The Me 163 was powered by a liquid fueled rocket engine. It could reach speeds over 1000 kph but it only had 7 ½ minutes of powered flight, then the rocket plane became a glider. Its rocket engine allowed the Komet to climb to the Allied bombers' altitude in less than 3 minutes! 163 pilots discovered that the most effective way to attack Allied bombers was to shoot up quickly, zoom up through the bomber formation, then dive down to attack the bomber from above. By this time the rocket was out of fuel and the Komet would glide back to the ground. In one year of operations Komet pilots only destroyed 18 Allied air craft, while losing 10. Many more Komet pilots died in testing and training accidents.

These German interceptor designs were technologically innovative, but they had little impact on the air war. Their story was one of "Too little, too late".

Here are two film clips of the new German fighters. The first recreates an Me 262 attack on American bombers from the 2012 film "Red Tails", the second is actual German film of the Me 163 Komet:

"We Got Jets!" from "Red Tails" (2012) 2:52

Me 163 Komet (1944) 3:35