ESCORT B-17S TO AIRCRAFT FACTORY

Big Week saw the Eighth Air Force
concentrate its forces on the destruc-
tion of the German fighter aircraft 
industry.  From Feb. 19th to 25th, 1944 
the bombers of the Eighth flew 3,300 
sorties and unloaded 6,000 tons of 
bombs.  The combined efforts of the 
USAAF and RAF Bomber Command during
this week dealt a devastating blow to
Luftwaffe fighter production.  However,
the German dispersal program, put into
practice after the heavy raids in the
summer of 1943, helped to nullify the
effects of the damage somewhat.  The
Germans had also become quite adept at
salvaging machinery from the wreckage
of their demolished factories.

YOUR MISSION

You fly a P-51b on a sweep ahead of a
formation of B-17s which have orders to
hit the Kassel aircraft factory as part
of the "Big Week". You aren't tied up
for close escort this time but you may
chase the Luftwaffe aircraft you like to.
(Another P-51b is doing the "close es-
cort" job.)
