After the French capitulation at the end of June 1940, Belgium experienced little daylight air combat, whether during the “Battle of Britain” or the “Non-Stop Offensive” in 1941, being ‘protected’ by the distance separating it from the RAF fighter bases. At most, ships and a few ports became the targets of British air force.
On the other hand, Belgium was (like the Netherlands) on one of the direct routes taken by the aircraft of Bomber Command leaving at night to attack the factories of the Ruhr. Hence the rapid establishment in the country of night fighter units (Nachtjagd) which were to make a name for themselves (the famous ‘Ghosts of Saint-Trond’ feared by the crews of the RAF). The period 1939-1942 was therefore contrasted with bloody fighting during the offensive in the west followed by relative tranquillity in the Belgian skies only disturbed by the rise in power of Bomber Command. The few intrusions of the ‘heavy’ Americans in 1942 remained ‘anecdotal’ although harbingers of a growing threat.

Illustrated by more than 750 photos. French text.