Last Battle of the Ruhr

WEATHER: Nitefire
INSERTS: None
MIN.TIME: 12:14
RADAR: FuG 220b Lich. SN-2 &
       FuG 218 Neptun (jammed! -
       do not use the map!!!!)

The final Battle of the Ruhr signal-
led the ability of Bomber Command to
bomb anywhere it chose while incurring
negligible casualties and inflicting
massive destruction.  The "battle"
began at the first of October and las-
ted until the end of December, 1944.
14,254 bombing sorties were flown,
60,830 tons of bombs were dropped, and
only 136 bombers were lost (<1%).
Duisburg, Essen, Cologne, Dusseldorf,
Bochum, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Oberhausen,
Munster, Hamm, and Leverkusen were de-
vastated in these attacks.  During this
period the Luftwaffe was increasingly
kept at bay by generous use of Mosquito
night fighters, improved jamming and
other counter-measures, and the impact
of sheer numbers.
Duisburg was attacked 4 times during this
period, with 13,000 tons of bombs dropped
over the course of 3,119 sorties. The city
was almost completely destroyed. Yet even
this would pale in comparison to what 
Bomber Command would do to Dresden 3
months later.....
ORDERS: Intercept the bomber formation
bound for Duisburg. Try to support the
operations of Ju88G-7s in your area, if
possible. Heavy Mosquito escort is expected.

