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Forgotten Fifteenth

Page 31

by Barrett Tillman


  17.Related by Colonel Walter Boyne, USAF (Ret.), email January 13, 2013.

  18.“460 Bombardment Group (H) Stories,” 15thaf.org, http://www.15thaf.org/55th_BW/460th_BG/Stories/Stories.htm; Duane L. “Sparky” Bohnstedt, historian of the 460th Bomb Group Association.

  19.Sean Seyer, The Plan Put into Practice: USAAF Bombing Doctrine and the Ploesti Campaign (St. Louis: University of Missouri, 2009), 82.

  20.Army Air Force Evaluation Board, Report, Volume VI: Ploesti (Mediterranean Theater of Operations, December 15, 1944), 51–52.

  21.Seyer, The Plan Put into Practice: USAAF Bombing Doctrine and the Ploesti Campaign (St. Louis: University of Missouri, 2009), 82.

  22.Walt W. Rostow, “Recollections on Bombing,” University of Texas at Austin, http://www.utexas.edu/opa/pubs/discovery/disc1997v14n2/disc-recollect.html.

  23.William Green, ed., “The Allied Combined Bomber Offensive: Two German Views,” Proceedings of the Second Military History Symposium (U.S. Air Force Academy, May 1968).

  24.Göring interview, May 10, 1945, http://library2.lawschool.cornell.edu/donovan/pdf/Interrogation_10May45.pdf.

  25.Cited in Ambrose, The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 169.

  26.William N. Hess to author, 2011.

  27.“Full Text Citations for Award of the Distinguished Service Cross,” Home of Heroes, http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_DSC/citatons/03_wwii-dsc/aaf_a.html.

  28.Hess to author, 2010.

  29.Mrs. Phyllis Mullins emails, July 2012.

  30.Stigler, 1983.

  31.Ralph Anderson emails, 2012.

  32.Bill Hess telecom, December 2012.

  33.“War Life,” 484th Bombardment Group (H), http://www.484th.org/Life/Life.htm.

  34.“Sgt. Hugh N. Jones,” 450th Bob Group Memorial Association, http://www.450thbg.com/real/biographies/jones/jones.shtml.

  35.Email, January 31, 2013.

  36.Ernie Pyle, Brave Men (New York: Henry Holt, 1944), 293. Pyle was killed in the Okinawa campaign in April 1945.

  37.“World War II,” dtic.mil, http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/wwii/.

  38.“Killed in 1944, Airman John S. McConnon May Be Coming Home,” 376th Heavy Bomb Group, http://www.376hbgva.com/memoirs/mcconnon.htm; Ann Belser, “WWII Aviator from City Will Finally Rest in Peace,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (March 16, 1999).

  39.“Martin F. Troy,” arlingtoncemetery.net, August 10, 2007, http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mftroy.htm.

  40.Details courtesy of Dr. Daniel Haulman.

  41.Andrew Tilghman, “New Medal ‘Insulting,’” Army Times (February 15, 2013). The DWM was canceled in April 2013.

  42.Hess interview, April 2012.

  43.Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970), 338.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Ambrose, Stephen E. The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

  Army Air Forces. The Air Battle of Ploesti. N.p., 1945.

  Army Air Forces Evaluation Board. Report, Vol. VI: Ploesti. Mediterranean Theater of Operations, December 15, 1944, 50.

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  Army Air Forces 28th Statistical Control Unit. The Statistical Story of the Fifteenth Air Force. May 20, 1945.

  Asch, Alfred, with Hugh R. Graff and Thomas A. Ramey. The Story of the Four Hundred and Fifty-fifth Bombardment Group (H) WWII: Flight of the Vulgar Vultures. Appleton, WI: Graphic Communications Center, 1991.

  Birdsall, Steve. Log of the Liberators. New York: Doubleday, 1973.

  Blake, Steve, and John Stanaway. Adorimini (“Up and at ’Em!”): A History of the 82nd Fighter Group in World War II. Boise: 82nd Fighter Group History, 1992.

  Blue, Allan G. The B-24 Liberator. New York: Scribners, 1975.

  Brittain, Vera. One Voice: Pacifist Writings from the Second World War. New York: Continuum Books, 2005.

  Caldwell, Donald. Day Fighters in Defense of the Reich, 1942–45. UK: Frontline Books, 2011.

  ———. The Luftwaffe Over Germany: Defense of the Reich. UK: Greenhill Books, 2007.

  Capps, Robert F. Flying Colt: Liberator Pilot in Italy. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, 1997.

  Constable, Trevor, and Raymond Toliver. Horrido! Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe. New York: Macmillan, 1968.

  Craven, Wesley F., and James L. Cate, eds. Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. II: Europe—Torch to Pointblank, August 1942 to December 1943. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949.

  ———. Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. III: Europe—Argument to V-E Day, January 1944 to May 1945. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.

  ———. Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. VII: The Services Around the World, Washington, D.C., 1945. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.

  Disbrow, Bill L. On the Edge. Riverside: Winlock Galey, 2005.

  Dorr, Robert F. B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force. UK: Osprey, 2000.

  Downey, R. F., and D. W. Shepherd. Maximum Effort: A History of the 449th Bomb Group, Book IV. Panama City: Norfield, 2000.

  Ehrlers, Robert S. Targeting the Third Reich. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2009.

  Fish, Robert W., ed. Memories of the 801st/492nd Bombardment Group “Carpetbaggers.” San Antonio: privately published, 1990.

  Follis, Thomas K. He Wore a Pair of Silver Wings. Bennington: Merriam Press, 2004.

  Forsyth, Robert. Luftwaffe Viermot Aces, 1942–1945. UK: Osprey, 2011.

  Gillies, Frederick W. The Story of a Squadron. Medford, MA: privately published, 1946.

  Goebel, Robert J. Mustang Ace: Memoirs of a P-51 Fighter Pilot. Pacifica: Pacifica Military History, 2010.

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  Hadley, Paul. “Grottaglie and Home”: A History of the 449th Bomb Group, World War II, Book III. Northfield: Collegiate Press, 1989.

  ———. “Maximum Effort”: A History of the 449th Bomb Group, World War II, Book IV. Northfield: Collegiate Press, 2000.

  Hall, Cargill. Case Studies in Strategic Bombardment. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History & Museums Program, 1998.

  Hammell, Eric. The Road to Big Week: The Struggle for Daylight Air Supremacy over Western Europe. Pacifica: Pacifica Military History, 2009.

  Hansell, Haywood S. The Air Plan That Defeated Hitler. Stratford: Ayer, 1979.

  Hansen, Randall. Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942–1945. New York: New American Library, 2008.

  Hapgood, David, and David Richardson. Monte Cassino: The Most Controversial Battle of World War II. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2002.

  Hess, William N. America’s Aces in a Day. North Branch: Specialty Press, 1996.

  ———. German Jets Versus the U.S. Army Air Force. North Branch: Specialty Press, 1996.

  Hill, Sedgefield D., ed. “The Fight’n” 451st Bombardment Group (H). Paducah: Turner, 1990.

  Huston, John W. American Airpower Comes of Age: General Henry H. Arnold’s World War II Diaries, Vol. II. Fresno: Minerva Group, 2004.

  Ivie, Tom, and Paul Ludwig. Spitfires and Yellow Tail Mustangs: The 52nd Fighter Group in World War Two. East Sussex, UK: Hikoki, 2005.

  Jablonski, Edward. Flying Fortress: The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them. New York: Doubleday, 1965.

  Kucera, Dennis C. In a Now Forgotten Sky: The 31st Fighter Group in WW2. Stratford: Flying Machines Press, 1997.

  Leary, William M. Fueling the Fires of Resistance: Army Air Forces Special Operations in the Balkans During World War II. Air Force History & Museums Program, 1995.

  Levine, Alan J. The Strategic Bombing of Germany, 1940–1945. Westport: Praeger, 1992.

  Licata, Dominic. Autobiography. Reno: University of Nevada, 2004.

  Loving, George G. Woodbine Red Leader: A P-51 Mustang Ace in the Mediterranean
Theater. Novato: Presidio Press, 2003.

  Matteson, Thomas T. An Analysis of the Circumstances Surrounding the Rescue and Evacuation of Allied Aircrewmen From Yugoslavia, 1941–1945. Air War College, Air University Report No. 128. Maxwell AFB, April 1977.

  McDowell, Ernest R. Checkertails: The 325th Fighter Group in the Second World War. Carrollton: Squadron-Signal, 1994.

  McDowell, Ernest R., and William N. Hess. Checkertail Clan: The 325th Fighter Group in North Africa and Italy. Fallbrook: Aero, 1969.

  Mullins, John D. An Escort of P-38s: The 1st Fighter Group in World War II. St. Paul: Phalanx, 1995.

  Murray, Williamson. Strategy for Defeat: The Luftwaffe, 1933–1945. Air University, 1983.

  Murray, Williamson, and Allan Millett. Military Innovation in the Interwar Period. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

  Nalty, Bernard C., with John F. Shiner and George M. Watson. With Courage: The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History & Museums Program, 1994.

  Neulen, Hans Werner. In the Skies of Europe: Air Forces Allied to the Luftwaffe. UK: Crowood Press, 1998.

  Olynyk, Frank. USAAF (European Theater) Credits for the Destruction of Enemy Aircraft in Air-to-Air Combat, World War 2. Aurora: privately published, 1987.

  Overy, Richard. Why the Allies Won. New York: W. W. Norton, 1995.

  Panas, John N. Diary of John Panas in World War II. Bronx: Beehive Press, undated.

  Pindak, Frank F. Mission No. 263: Second Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, August 29, 1944. Denver: L. Dickinson, 1997.

  Price, Alfred. Battle over the Reich: The Strategic Bomber Offensive against Germany, Volume Two: 1943–45. UK: Classic, 2005.

  Pyle, Ernie. Brave Men. New York: Henry Holt, 1944.

  Raiford, Neil Hunter. Shadow: A Cottontail Bomber Crew in World War II. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005.

  Rajlich, Jiri, et al. Slovakian and Bulgarian Aces of World War 2. UK: Osprey, 2004.

  Richards, Charles W. The Second Was First. Bend: Maverick, 1999.

  Rust, Kenn C. Fifteenth Air Force Story. Temple City: Historical Aviation Album, 1976.

  Schaffer, Ronald. Wings of Judgment: American Bombing in World War II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

  Seyer, Sean. The Plan Put into Practice: USAAF Bombing Doctrine and the Ploesti Campaign. St. Louis: University of Missouri, 2009.

  Sgarlato, Nico. Italian Aircraft of World War II. Warren, MI: Squadron-Signal, 1979.

  Shepherd, D. William. Maximum Effort: A History of the 449th Bomb Group in World War II. Paducah: Turner, 2000.

  Shores, Christopher. Duel for the Sky: Ten Crucial Air Battles of World War II. UK: Blandford Press, 1985.

  Speer, Albert. Erinnerungen. Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1969.

  ———. Inside the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970.

  Stout, Jay A. Fortress Ploesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler’s Oil. Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2003.

  Werrell, Kenneth P. Who Fears? 301st in War and Peace, 1942–1979. Dallas: Taylor, 1991.

  INDEX

  12 O’Clock High, 260

  A

  A-3, 29, 158

  “Able Box,” 34–35, 224, 242

  Abschüsse, 112

  “ace in a day,” 34, 223

  Adell, Albert, 154

  Adriatic coast (Italy), xiv

  Adriatic Sea, 14, 33, 42, 45, 102, 213

  Aegean Sea, 204–5

  Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (ANR), 22, 40–41

  Aerospace Defense Command, 262

  Africa. See North Africa; South Africa

  Agan, Arthur C., 223, 262

  Aghione, 138

  Agusta 109 helicopters, 270–71

  Air Crew Recovery Unit (ACRU), 178–81

  Air Fleet Two, 39–40. See also Luftflotte (Air Fleet) Two

  Air Force, 208–9

  Air Force Association, 261–62

  Air Materiel Command, 249, 262

  Air Medals, 165

  Air Transport Command, 96, 249

  Alaska, 29, 199

  Alaskan Air Command, 262

  Albania, 174, 269–70, 280

  Albuquerque, NM, 187

  Aleutian, 260–61

  Algeria, 19, 151

  Algiers, 5, 159

  Alkire, Darr H., 43

  Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff, 4

  Allies

  bombing of enemy civilians by the, 52–53

  composition of the, 22, 179

  military progress of the, 4, 6, 21, 32, 66–67, 84, 133, 137, 139, 142, 210–11

  Monte Cassino and the, 36

  resources of the, 231

  victory of the, 244

  Allison engines, 56, 59, 151

  Alps, the, xi–xii, 42, 130, 150, 153, 161, 174, 218, 225, 272

  Ambrose, Stephen, 207

  Amendola, 59, 110, 143, 243, 267, 277

  American Airlines, 50

  American Beauty, 202

  American Fighter Aces Association, 263, 273

  American Revolution, the, 27

  Americans

  casualties World War II, 15, 88, 269–70

  chemical warfare and the, 16

  civilians during World War II, 97

  compared with Europeans, xii, 99–100, 207

  operations in World War II, 2–4, 6, 22, 33, 36, 38, 45–49, 67–68, 71, 78, 87–89, 96, 102, 109, 129, 134–35, 140–41, 145–46, 170, 178, 180–81, 191, 204, 233, 236, 244, 265

  and Soviets, 99, 105, 127, 131

  “American summer,” 189

  American West, xii

  Ancona, 13, 181

  Anderson, Edwin, 110–11

  Anderson, Frederick L., 53

  Anderson, Ralph, 267, 281

  Andrews, Richard “Dick,” 131–32

  Angermann (German pilot), 143

  Anglo-American forces, 2, 4, 38, 53, 138, 158, 210–11

  Antonescu, Ion, 136

  Antwerp, 210–11

  Anzio, 32, 39

  Apollo oil refinery, 106

  Archer, Lee, 190

  Ardennes Forest, 210

  Arkansas National Guard, 151

  Arlington Cemetery, 263, 270

  Armstrong, Frank, 23

  Arnold, Henry “Hap,” 3, 5, 7, 17–19, 28–29, 52–53, 68, 261

  Aron, William E., 238

  Arsenic and Lace, 270

  Ashkins, Milton, 222

  Asia, 82

  “As Time Goes By,” 258

  Astra Romana, 83, 90, 112, 129–30, 133, 136–37, 155, 257

  Atabrine, 108

  Athens, 5, 192, 218, 249

  Atkinson, John T., 205

  Atkinson, Joseph H., 7

  Augsburg, 17, 23, 47, 108, 158

  Auschwitz, 119, 187, 213

  Australia, 251

  Austria

  bombing of, 4, 13–14, 39, 42–43, 45, 55, 68, 105, 158, 160, 171, 174, 176–77, 211, 217, 219–24, 241, 250, 254, 279

  geography of, xi, 4

  Germany and, 40

  surrender of, 244, 248

  Aviano, 43, 202

  Axis

  Allied operations against the, ix–x, 4, 16, 26, 51, 53, 64, 66, 68, 85, 92, 101–2, 126, 177, 183, 186, 254, 272, 274

  casualties among the, 93

  members of the, 31, 53, 66, 68, 83, 183, 274

  military operations of the, 33, 67, 72, 86, 109, 112, 127, 131, 136, 191–92, 196, 237

  surrender of the, 244

  “Axis Sally,” 186

  B

  B-17Ds, 92

  B-17 Flying Fortresses, 7

  B-17Fs, 35, 140

  B-17Gs, 35, 78, 188

  B-17s, 7–9, 12–14, 24–26, 28, 33–37, 41, 44–45, 48, 65, 80, 86, 88, 91, 95, 97–99, 101–2, 105, 109, 123, 130, 132, 135, 140, 146, 171, 179, 186–88, 205, 208–9, 211, 222, 225–30, 234, 243, 248, 251, 263, 266, 269, 271

  B-24Gs, 121

  B-24Js, 9, 166

  B-24s, 7–9, 14, 23, 26, 34–35, 39,
41, 43, 63, 65–66, 69, 86, 88–89, 94–95, 102, 106, 112, 116, 118, 120, 122–23, 130, 134, 166, 169, 171–73, 176, 181, 184, 197–98, 204, 216–17, 219, 221, 225–26, 241–42, 251, 265, 267, 269–71

  B-25 Mitchells, 13

  B-25s, 1, 7, 13, 25–26, 31, 249

  B-26s, 7, 25–26

  B-29s, 92, 187, 251, 261

  B-29 Superfortresses, 9

  Baetjer, Howard, 61

  Baker, Donald, 198

  Balkan Air Force, 178, 192, 201

  Balkans, the, 4–5, 40, 66, 85, 119, 160, 171, 175, 177–78, 180, 185, 252, 254

  Baller, Albert, 176

  “Bambino Stadium,” 6

  Bari, 2, 6–7, 14, 16–17, 23, 30, 62, 112, 126, 145, 151, 155, 159, 166, 173, 176, 178–79, 181, 184–85, 195, 209–10, 213, 245

  “Barn, the,” 74

  Baron Pavoncelli, 49

  Barton, Bill, 211–12

  Baseler, Robert L. “Bob,” 20–22, 33–34, 57–58, 216, 263

  Battle of Britain, 39–40, 63, 199, 253

  Battle of the Bulge, 211

  Bauer, Konrad, 79

  Bavaria, 108, 157, 221

  “Behind the Rising Sun,” 73

  Belgium, 80, 210

  Belgrade, 68, 116, 185

  Benedictine abbey, 35

  Benghazi, 84

  Bentsen, Lloyd, 265

  Berenger, Victor Henri, 81

  Bergen, Edgar, 21

  Berlin Airlift, 263

  Berlin Olympics (1936), 40, 186

  Berlin Sleeper III, 135

  Bf 109G-6s, 143

  Bf 109Gs, 90

  Bf 109s, 14, 39, 44, 100–1, 103, 109, 124, 140, 163, 190, 199, 203

  Bf 110s, 39, 43–44, 70

  Big Stud, 21, 58

  Big Week, 38–39, 46, 48–49, 51, 55, 72, 91, 125

  Big Yank, 228–29

  Bishop, Albert, 228

  Bizerte, 159

  “Black Devil of the Ukraine, The,” 117

  Black Easter, 67–68

  “Black Hammer,” 187, 256

  Black Sea, 136, 218

  Blakely, Frank, 270

  Blechhammer, 5, 119, 132–33, 137, 142–43, 181, 187–88, 190, 204–5, 210, 213, 217, 255–56

  Blechhammer North, 119, 187, 217, 256

  Blechhammer South, 119, 187, 217, 256

  Bleyer, Julian, 14

  Blida, 171–72

  Blond Squaw, 105

 

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