On November 16 and 18, 35 B-24 heavy bombers from the 392nd Bomber Group of out of Wendling, Station 118, attacked the hydro-electric power station at Rjukan with excellent coverage of the target. The missions were the longest for this bomber group lasting 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 hours respectively. The need for ground assaults was reduced from a year earlier as there was now an available alternative of night bombing, which had previously been unrealistic owing to German air cover. The Germans were convinced that air raids would result in further serious "hits", and they decided to abandon the plant and move remaining stocks and critical components to Germany in 1944.