Big Week and the arrival of the P-51 as a long-range escort

Between 20 and 25 February 1944 — with a renewed raid on Schweinfurt on the 24th as its centrepiece — "Big Week" turned Allied bombing against the German aircraft industry. Republic P-47s and, above all, the new North American P-51 Mustang, fitted with drop tanks that extended their range, could finally escort the B-17s all the way to the target and back, inflicting attrition the Luftwaffe could no longer replace.