in use as an assembly ship, wearing a striped pattern paint scheme Due to the threat of fighters to
US Army Air Force bombers during daylight raids,
tight bomber formations began to be employed in order to maximize defensive firepower and to concentrate bombs on the designated target. However, these formations required time to assemble and in 1943 the idea of using older model bombers to guide the others was devised. The USAAF hoped to ideally assemble bomber formations within an hour. However this often required two to three hours as planes from multiple airfields required coordination, all under
radio silence so as to not tip off the Germans to the impending raid. Assembly ships had their armaments removed and carried a skeleton crew of two pilots, navigator, radio operator and one or two flare operators. They were given additional flares, flare ammunition (of a particular color), navigational equipment (including navigational lights) Once the bomber formations formed up, the assembly ships would link up with other groups before returning to base. However, there was an instance where a B-24 nicknamed "Spotted Ass Ape" continued with its bomber formation all the way to its target in Germany. The use of combat boxes and thus assembly ships continued throughout the war even after long-range fighter escorts like the
North American P-51 Mustang and
Lockheed P-38 Lightning were put into service. ==Recall aircraft==