As with the first world war, America was a late entry, preferring not to get involved in European conflicts until it had no choice but to enter. Unlike WW I, however, there was little of significance America could do right away: the German advance secured much of Western Europe and was making deep inroads into Russia. That is where the new technology of airplanes came in.

On this day, January 27, in 1943, the first American air raid against Germany was flown. A squadron of B-17 bombers took off from airfields in Britain and flew over Willhelmshaven supply depots, in the northwest of Germany.

Air raids for both the Allies and Axis powers in WW II enabled the projection of power far beyond the front lines. Bomber sorties were routinely used to disrupt supply operations deep inside enemy territory, and later on – with the firebombing of entire cities – to demoralize enemy civilians.