In 1942, the Allies took the initiative in World War II. After the Allied Powers defeated the Axis in the battle of El Alamein, the opponents were forced to retreat to the Apennine Peninsula to where the Allied Powers followed. After the defining victories, the Allies had probably expected the immediate surrender of Germany, but of course that did not happen.
The Allies tried to break Germany's power by systematically bombing German cities. After liberating the southern part of the peninsula, they established their aircraft bases from where, especially American and British pilots, had set off to bomb the German cities in the south of Reich. Many of them ended their flights on the Slovenian soil. Some of them were captured by Slovenian Home Guard, who handed them over to Germans and were consequently sent to prisoner-of-war camps. Most of the airmen were, however, rescued by partisans and were later returned to the air bases in southern Italy via partisan airports in Bosnia and Slovenia.
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