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What caused the fall of the Luftwaffe in WWII?
I am writing a research paper on it, and so far I understand there was probably a lack of supply due to the heavy bombing the allies were doing, and there was a big discrepancy over what the ME262 could do.
Attrition, Fuel and the P51 Mustang in that order. Constant pounding of the bombing raids and tangling with B-17s and B-24s wore down the numbers of the experienced pilots. After the raids on Ploesti in Aug 1943 the Fuel had to be rationed which reduced training. In February 1944 the P-51 Mustang started flying missions over Germany which stopped the Luftwaffe from shooting up the bomber formations. The Luftwaffe lost so many pilots in February and March they stopped coming to intercept the bombers. The Americans started bombing Berlin to force the Luftwaffe to engage and the Luftwaffe lost more fighters. In the Summer of 1944 the Russians took the Ploesti oil fields which severely limited the fuel available.
All in all by the fall of 1944 the Luftwaffe could keep up the production of aircraft but was down to a few experienced pilots. Consequently when the green pilots came up the Americans just knocked them down. When the 9th Air Force moved onto the continent it made all targets in Gemany within range of the fighters and medium bombers and they bombed the airfields into dust.
