Lusty's purpose was to locate and recover top secret German weaponry, e.g. aircraft and weapons.
[1] The escort aircraft carrier HMS Reaper took part in the operation, being used to ferry captured airframes.
On 23 July 1945, Reaper left Cherbourg for Newark, New Jersey.
The other five Messerschmitt Me 262s stayed with the AAF, and were flown to an airfield in Indiana known as Freeman Field where tests could be carried out relatively secretly.
On 19 August, one of two Messerschmitt Me 262s travelling to Freeman Field via Pittsburgh crashed into a field during landing, with all that remained of the aircraft salvageable parts.