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Forgotten Fifteenth

Page 34

by Barrett Tillman


  Pribyla, Harry, 43

  Princeton University, 61

  Protestants, 179

  Prufening works, 46

  Pucket, Donald, 121, 260

  Pucket, Lorene, 121

  “Puma” Fighter Group, 90, 143, 189–90, 199, 266

  Punitive Expedition, 28

  Purple Hearts, 165, 271

  Pyle, Ernie, 259, 269

  “Pyramiders,” 8, 121

  Pyriatin, 96

  Q

  Quayle, Dan, 265

  Quesada, Elwood, 28

  R

  Ramey, Tom, 233

  Ramitelli, 124, 279

  Randle, Bill, 231

  “rape and rampage,” 75

  Rapido River, 35–36

  Rau, Oscar “Ockie,” 199

  Rayford, Lee, 123

  RDX bombs, 135, 188

  Reardon, J. C., 243

  “Recce” pilots, 152

  Red Air Force, 53, 96

  Red Cross, 157, 184, 213, 234

  Red Square, 265

  Red Tails, x, 123, 190, 226, 230, 242, 252–54

  Red Tails, 260

  Redeventa, 93

  Regensburg, 5, 12–13, 41, 43, 45–48, 55, 72, 164, 217, 219, 221, 238, 255

  Regia Aeronautica, 22

  Reich, the. See also Third Reich

  bombing of, x, 132, 187, 254

  defense of the, 39, 77, 191, 204, 224

  industry of the, 47, 68–69, 118–19, 254

  Reims, 244

  Repubblica Sociale Italiana, 40

  Republican Air Force, 40–41

  Republicans, 240

  Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 21–22, 33, 49, 55–56, 58, 60, 252, 263, 280

  Reschke, Willi, 143

  Revi, xiii, 231

  Rhine River, 225

  Rhone Valley, 172

  Rice, Herbert E., 46

  Richard, Robert “Bob,” 18, 138–39, 142

  Rickenbacker, Eddie, 18

  Ridenour, Carlyle, H., 8

  Riem, 230

  Rimini, 13

  Ritz Brothers, 74

  Ritz Hotel, 259

  Rodina, 99

  Rolls Royce, 56

  Romana Americana, 83, 93–94, 101–3, 108, 112, 122, 126, 133–34, 155

  Romania, 57, 131, 146, 199, 206, 274

  bombing of, 8, 31, 53, 66, 68, 84, 86–87, 92–93, 100–1, 103–4, 127–28, 133, 137, 254, 256–57, 279

  defense of, 66–68, 93, 113, 135

  POWs in, 144–45, 184

  Russian control of, 185, 188, 257

  strategic value of, x, 81–83, 256–57

  surrender by, 84, 183, 237

  Romanian Air Force

  aces of the, 65, 143–45, 266

  and the Fifteenth, 66–68, 84, 86, 90, 93–94, 100, 109, 145, 257

  losses of the, 109

  Ninth Fighter Group, 144

  Seventh Fighter Group, 66

  Rome, 5, 32, 36, 52, 73, 173, 259, 267

  bombing of, 2, 36, 151, 153

  capture of, 101, 115

  Roosevelt, Elliott, 159

  Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 17, 28, 82, 96, 166, 218, 228, 240

  Rosenheim, 240

  “Rosie the Riveters,” 10

  Rosignano, 175–76, 279

  Rotterdam, 52

  Route Six, 35–36

  Rowe, Tom, 180–81

  Royal Air Force (RAF), 138

  Balkan Air Force, 178, 192

  Bomber Command, 39, 254–55

  casualties of the, 178

  “dicey shows” and, 162

  leadership of the, 85

  missions by the, 63, 128–29, 133, 155–56, 179, 197, 236, 254–56

  morale bombing and, 4, 22, 32, 52, 152

  No. 205 Group, 134

  Royal Air Force Bomber Command. See under Royal Air Force

  Royal Hungarian Air Force, 90, 189. See also Hungary

  “R and R,” 75

  Ruhland, 119, 137, 222, 226

  Rush, Hugo P., 94–95, 168, 184

  Russia, Russians, 40, 90, 266. See also Soviets, Soviet Union

  as ally of the West, 38, 53, 90, 95–97, 135–36, 144, 179, 192, 223, 238

  American interactions with, 95–99, 102, 105, 238

  Bulgaria and, 183–85

  conquest of Germany, 234, 238, 244

  Czarist period of, 52

  Doolittle raid and, 1

  and the Fifteenth, 66, 127, 132, 199–201, 223, 228, 230

  German invasion of, 83, 99, 105, 109

  Rust, Mathias, 265

  Ryan, John D., 262

  Ryan, Michael, 262

  S

  Saab 2000 turboprops, 270–71

  Sahara Desert, 8

  Saint-Valentine, 224

  Salerno, 2, 32

  Salsola, 59–60, 74, 108, 215

  Salvation Army, 213

  Salzburg, 45, 238–39, 243

  San Antonio, TX, 236

  San Diego, CA, 9

  Sandu, Ioan, 109

  San Giovanni, 65, 70, 241, 278

  San Pancrazio, 166–68, 278

  San Severo, 74, 145, 159, 162, 202

  Sardinia, 21

  Schaffer, Ronald, 52

  Schall, Franz, 226, 231

  Schallmoser, Eduard, 231

  Schambacker, C. O., 106–7

  Schlachtgeschwader 10, 238. See also Luftwaffe

  Schleissheim, 39–40

  Schlüter, Herbert, 222

  Schmidt, Chester, 255

  Schultz, Otto, 20

  Schwalbe, 220. See also Swallow

  Schweinfurt, 12, 44

  “Schweinfurt II,” 13

  Scotland, 81

  Scroggs, J. F., 131

  Second World War, 81, 112, 137, 169, 191, 244, 269. See also World War II

  Seldom Available, 242

  Serbanescu, Alexandru, 66

  Serbia, 167–68, 178–79, 203

  Seregelyes Airdrome, 163

  Shaffner, Wayne, 270

  Shangri-La, 256

  Sheetz, Keith W., 164

  Shell Oil, 5, 261

  Shirley Our Girlie, 98

  “shuttle bombing,” 96, 101

  Siberia, 96

  Sicily, 2, 4, 13, 18

  Sierra Nevada, xii

  Silesia, 119, 205

  Silver Star, 132, 165

  Skakich, Vojislav, 166–69

  Skytrain, 179

  Slovakia, Slovaks, 69–71, 183, 274

  Slovenia, 168, 180

  Sluder, Chester L. “Chet,” 57, 98, 100

  Smith, Claire, 270

  Smith, Gerry, 270

  Smith (lieutenant of Thirty-second Squadron), 164

  Snaith, William G., 122

  Snerd, Mortimer, 21

  Sofia, Sofians, 5, 31, 52, 67–68, 167, 183, 282

  Sorensen, Charles E., 9

  Souhozem, 111

  South Africa, 251

  Southbridge, MA, 242

  South Dakota, 240, 265

  South Korea, 251

  Soviet Union. See also Russia, Russians

  Fifteenth’s mission to the, 101

  leadership of the, 17

  post–World War II, 269

  Soviets. See also Russia, Russians

  as ally of the West, 66, 71, 90, 95–96, 98–99, 101–2, 117, 131, 158, 199, 257

  attacks against the, 66, 117, 145, 189–90, 194

  demands of the, 38, 53, 96, 102, 200–1, 259

  missions flown by the, 83, 90, 135–36, 158, 183, 188, 199–201

  post–World War II, 262–63

  Yalta and the, 218, 265, 269

  Spaatz, Carl “Tooey”

  and the Fifteenth Air Force, 3–4, 29, 38, 45, 85–86, 92, 94, 104

  Göring and, 258

  and other senior officers, 17–18

  relationship with Doolittle, 4

  relationship with Eisenhower, 85

  Stalin and, 95–96

  transfers after V-E Day, 261

  Spain, 40, 266<
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  Specht, Gunther, 80

  Speer, Albert, 47–48, 221, 258, 272

  Spencer, Charles, 34

  Spezia, 13, 19

  Spinazzola, 232, 278

  Spitfires, 56, 200

  Spittal, 248

  SS Paul Hamilton, 159

  Stahl, Hermann, 45

  Stalag Luft IV (“Luft Four”), 233–34

  Stalag XI-B, 236

  Stalin, Joseph, 17, 95–96, 136, 183, 218

  Standard Petrol, 83

  Starbuck, William T., 140

  Stars and Stripes, 244

  St. Benedict, 36

  Steaua Romana, 84, 133–34, 155

  Stefonowicz, LeRoy, 241

  Steinhoff, Johannes, 78–79, 265–66, 274, 281

  Steyr, 42–45, 255

  Stigler, Franz, 79, 230, 263, 266, 274, 281

  St. Louis, MO, 193

  Stornarella, 49

  Stoyanov, Stoyan, 66

  Strapko, William S., 228

  Strategic Air Command (SAC), 249, 262

  Stratton, Wilbur, 159–60

  Streparone, 228

  Strother, Dean, 33, 57, 61, 127, 195, 262

  Stud, 21

  Stuka Wing 77, 128

  Sturmflieger, 205

  Sturmstaffel, 79

  Sulfur Spa, 138

  Sullivan, Michael, 110–11

  Superfortresses, 9

  Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, 84

  surface-to-air missile (SAM), 205–6

  Swallow, 220

  Sweden, 48

  Swoose, The, 92

  Symons, William, 110

  T

  “tail-end Charlie,” 228

  “Taps,” 228

  Taranto, 2

  “target checks,” 152

  Tarrant, Yancey, 127–28

  Taylor, Oliver B. “Obie,” 19, 128

  Taylor, Robert K., 29

  Taylor, Yantis H., 195

  Tedder, Arthur, 85

  Tehran, 17

  Tel Aviv, 249

  “terror bombing,” 52

  Terrorflieger, 237

  Test Pilot, 8

  Teutons, xiii, 148, 191, 235

  Texas, xiv, 106–7, 233, 263, 265

  Texas Hill Country, 234

  Thaxton, Charles, 222

  Third Reich, 47. See also Reich, the

  “Thistle” aircraft, 91

  Thorsen, James G., 90

  Thousand Plane Raid, The, 259

  Thunderbolts, 21, 33–34, 46, 57–58, 60, 251–52

  Tiberius, 75–76

  Tichy, Ekkehard, 79–80

  Tito, Josip Broz, 168, 170, 177–81, 193

  TNT, 188

  Tokyo, 1, 5, 52, 82

  Tone, Franchot, 73

  Torremaggiore, 195

  Torretta, 39, 51, 287

  Tortarella, 11

  Toulon, 138

  Tovrea, Philip E., 125

  Trafton, Fred, 180

  Trandafirescu, Virgil, 109

  Transport Plan, the, 220

  Trinidad, 249

  Triolo, 19, 73, 186, 238, 249, 278

  Tripoli, 167

  Troy, Martin, 270

  Tunis, 2, 5

  Tunisia, 4–5, 7–14, 20–21, 25, 142, 159, 167

  Turbos, 220–21, 227–28, 230

  Turin, 270

  Tuskegee Airmen, 58, 123, 252–54

  Tuskegee Airmen, 260

  Twelve O’Clock High, 259

  Twining, Merrill, 262

  Twining, Nathan F. “Nate”

  biography of, 27–29, 168

  as leader of the Fifteenth, 27, 29–31, 33–34, 37, 55–56, 65, 84–85, 88, 112, 130, 133, 135, 145, 151, 156, 158–59, 184, 195, 202, 213, 231, 245, 248, 252–53

  military operations conducted under, 32, 37–39, 41, 44, 48–51, 66–67, 84–86, 88–91, 93–94, 102, 104, 108–9, 113, 116, 136–37, 139, 155, 177–79, 185, 189–91, 197–99, 209–10, 216, 218–21, 225, 245

  service after the Fifteenth, 249, 262

  Tyrrhenian Sea, 14, 75, 175

  U

  U-boats, 13, 138

  Udine, 20, 33, 123

  Ukraine, 117, 132

  “Uncle Sugar,” 249

  Unirea Sperantza, 83, 133, 155

  United States, the, 4, 12, 166, 176, 208, 247–49, 261, 266

  Untersturmführer, 194

  Urton, Tom, 200

  U.S. Air Corps Tactical School, 28

  U.S. Air Transport Command, 96, 249

  U.S. Army, 12, 29, 38, 167–68

  Eighth Army Group, 176

  Fifth Army Group, 37, 101, 176, 231

  Sixth Army Group, 137

  U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF), 3, 10, 12–13, 32, 48, 95, 179, 252, 258

  Eighth Air Force, 23, 88, 105, 197, 228, 234, 253–55, 266

  492nd Bomb Group, 171

  801st Bomb Group. See Carpetbaggers

  VIII Bomber Command, 34

  859th Fighter Squadron, 172–76, 279

  leadership of the, 27, 29, 33, 51, 63, 97

  missions of the, 12–13, 16–20, 26, 39–41, 44–51, 65, 94–97, 102, 105, 170, 172, 221, 225

  versus other air forces, ix, 25, 34, 49, 195, 197, 258–61, 267, 282

  Eleventh Air Force, 260–61

  Fifteenth Air Force. See Fifteenth Army Air Force

  Fifth Air Force, 260

  First Air Force, 261

  Fourteenth Air Force, 261

  Fourth Air Force, 261

  Ninth Air Force, 7, 14, 260

  Seventh Air Force, 260–61

  Sixth Air Force, 261

  Tenth Air Force, 261

  Seventh Bomb Group, 109

  Thirteenth Air Force, 28, 33, 260–61

  Twelfth Air Force, 159, 175, 178, 237, 252, 260

  307th Fighter Squadron, 71

  308th Fighter Squadron, 73

  members of the, 2, 17, 261

  missions of the, 4–7, 31–32, 36–37, 138, 180, 192

  Thirty-first Fighter Group, 56, 60–61, 71–73, 90, 125–27, 145, 180, 186, 190, 196, 205, 221, 226, 229–30, 232, 239, 242, 244, 247, 251–54, 262, 268, 280–81

  transfer to the Fifteenth, 6–7, 20, 56

  XII Bomber Command, 7, 29

  XII Troop Carrier Command, 178

  Twentieth Air Force, 249

  Twenty-first Engineer Aviation Regiment, 10

  U.S. Army Ground Forces, 29, 248

  U.S. Army MIA searchers, 270

  U.S. Congress, 262

  U.S. Department of Defense, 271

  U.S. Department of War, 107, 159

  U.S. Eastern Command, 96

  U.S. Fifth Army, 37, 101, 176, 231

  U.S. Marine Corps, 28, 159, 262

  U.S. Military Mission to Moscow, 201

  USO, 213, 218

  U.S. Sixth Army Group, 137

  U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), 3, 29, 95, 178

  Utah, xiv, 65

  V

  V-1 cruise missiles, 220

  V-2 ballistic missiles, 220

  VII Bomber Command, 34

  Valorose (corporal), 73

  Varnell, John, 196

  Varnell, Sully, 202, 252, 263, 281

  Vatican, the, 36

  V-E Day, x, 27, 165, 181, 194, 198, 230, 240, 248–49, 260–61

  Venosa, 205, 248, 278

  Veszprem-Jutas, 90

  Vezzano, 90

  VHFs (radio sets), 154–56

  “Victory Flights,” 245

  Vienna, 128–29, 187, 205

  as bombing target, 5, 55, 68–69, 76, 137, 142–43, 158, 190–91, 217, 219, 234, 238, 255

  defense of, 40, 69, 137, 142–43, 190–91, 265

  Viermots, xiv, 15, 78–80, 126, 142

  Villa, Pancho, 28

  Vincenza, 23

  Virginia, 123, 228

  Vis (island), 193

  Vladivostok, 243

  Volkssturm, 46

  Voll, John J., 59, 72, 196, 202, 252, 263, 281

  von Richt
hofen, Wolfram, 40

  Voss, Werner, 21

  Vozdushni Voiski, 67

  Vulgar Vultures, 70, 241. See also Fifteenth Army Air Force: 455th Bomb Group

  W

  Waco gliders, 193

  Walsh, Robert L., 96

  War Lover, The, 259

  Warm Springs, GA, 240

  Warren, Robert H., 95

  Warsaw, 52

  Washburn College, 199

  Washington, D.C., 18, 72, 166–67, 201, 261

  Wasserfall, 205–6

  Watson, Ralph J. “Doc,” 19

  Watson, Thomas J., 157

  Weather Reconnaissance Detachment, 154, 216, 279

  Weekes, Ariel, 227, 264

  Wehner, Howard, 228

  Wehrmacht, xii, 118–19, 194, 220, 233, 255–57. See also Luftwaffe

  Weis (Austria), 211

  Weissenberger, Theodor, 222

  Wellingtons, 133, 135

  Wels (Austria), 212

  Wendover, 65

  Western Allies, 244. See also Allies

  Western Europe, 40

  West Point, 3, 19, 28–29, 50, 58, 171

  Whitehead, Robert W., 238

  White, Robbie, 208–9

  Whitwell, Joseph, 151

  Wiener Neustadt, 14–15, 17, 20, 43, 60, 92, 166, 205, 255

  Willow Run, MI, 9, 65

  Wilson, Charles, 132

  Wilson, Henry Maitland, 3, 178

  Wiltsie, Richard E., 131–32

  Wisconsin, 28, 188

  Women’s Army Corps (WAC), 74

  Woodbine Red Leader, 262

  World War I, 82. See also First World War

  veterans of, 39–40

  World War II, 193, 251, 271. See also Second World War

  Bulgaria and, 67

  casualties of, 109, 165

  end of, 218

  famous troops of, 252, 258

  friendly fire and, 60

  generation, 22

  precision bombing in, 143, 232

  role of oil in, 81–82

  veterans of, ix, 40, 165, 263, 271, 274

  Wray, Robert M. “Bob,” 212

  “wrench benders,” 30, 232

  Wright brothers, 9, 173

  Wright Field, 155, 206

  X

  Xenia, 83, 101, 120–21, 130, 133, 135, 155

  Y

  Yakovlev, Yaks, 200

  Yalta, 218

  Yankee Doodle, 97

  Yankee Doodle II, 97

  Yugos, 149

  Yugoslav Detachment, 166–69

  Yugoslavia, Yugoslavians

  and Americans, 23, 242

  flight missions and, 89, 100, 102, 119, 132–33, 144, 151, 160, 167, 170, 172–75, 177, 180–81, 185, 199–201, 217, 220, 244, 250, 279

  geography of, 42, 86, 190

  Partisans, 61, 168, 179

  Yugoslav Royal Air Force, 166–68

  Z

  Zadar, 181

  Zagreb, 5, 41, 160, 216–17

  Zalenak, Pavel, 71

  Zara, 181

  Zelasko, Thomas, 15–16

  Zerstörer, 70–72

  Zilistea, 127

  Zirkle, Robert, 153

  Zurney, Walter, 216–17

 

 

 


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