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Operation Gisela () was the codename for a German military operation of the Second World War. ''Gisela'' was designed as an aerial intruder operation to support the German air defence system in its night battles with RAF Bomber Command during the Defence of the Reich campaign. It was the last major operation launched by the ''Luftwaffe'' ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' (Night Fighter Wings) during the conflict.〔 By March 1945 the ''Luftwaffe'' had lost air superiority over all fronts. Western Allied Air Forces held air supremacy over the German Reich and remaining German-occupied territory. German industrial cities were now subjected to intensive bombardment which inflicted enormous damage on the German war effort. The United States Army Air Forces attacked by day, while RAF Bomber Command operated by night. Allied armies had also reached the pre-war German territorial borders and now occupied some German towns and cities. In the West the defeat in Normandy and the Allied advance across Western Europe had significant consequences for the ''Luftwaffe's'' ability to defend Germany from British night attacks. The Kammhuber Line—German air defence system—which had extended through occupied France, Belgium and the Netherlands was now broken and much of its early warning network had been lost. Along with the battlefield reverses was the inability of the ''Luftwaffe'' to produce enough experienced night fighter crews which was exacerbated by the crippling shortage of fuel at this stage in the war which contributed to the collapse of training programs and grounded combat units. Equally serious was the threat posed by RAF de Havilland Mosquito night fighter intruders operating over Germany.〔Boiten 1997, pp. 198–199.〕 In a desperate attempt to improve the situation and hamper British operations, a number of experienced night fighter commanders and pilots suggested restarting intruder operations over England. In 1940–41, German night fighters, lacking airborne radar sets and a means to locate them over Germany, had flown to British bomber bases and attempted to destroy RAF bombers as they returned from their missions. Adolf Hitler had ordered a cessation of these activities for propaganda and practical reasons but these operations had met with reasonable success in 1941 and it was felt they may do so again. Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the ''Luftwaffe'' sanctioned the operation. The Germans waited for an opportunity to begin the intruder operation and one presented itself on the night of the 3/4 March 1945 when Bomber Command attacked targets in western Germany. The operation failed to achieve the results hoped for; the successes of the attacking force were not sufficiently commensurate with the losses sustained. ==Background== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Gisela」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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