The mission aimed to destroy the factories in Kassel of the engineering works of Henschel & Sohn which built tracked armoured vehicles (the "Tiger" and "Panther" tanks) and their associated infrastructure.
As the result of a navigation error, the lead ship of the 445th Bombardment Group turned almost due east instead of east-southeast and its 35 bombers bypassed Kassel, deciding instead to bomb the railway facilities in the town of Göttingen.
These wings were equipped with Bf 109 and Fw 190 fighters which had been modified with extra armour and 20 and 30 mm cannon for attacking bomber formations.
In the days after the battle, USAAF aircraft dropped leaflets over the suspected landing zones to try and protect crews that had parachuted to safety from being lynched.
On 1 August 1990, an airmen's memorial was unveiled at the crash site of the lead ship of the US bomber group in the Seulingswald near Ludwigsau-Friedlos to commemorate the fallen and as a gesture of reconciliation.