Flying the legendary B-24 Liberator, the 464th Bomb Group was stationed at Pantanella, Italy and flew combat missions against the heart of Hitler's Third Reich. During their service they flew almost daily against targets like Ploesti, Blechammer, and Vienna. This is their history as told by daily records, personal stories and interviews with the men who served with the 464th.
This story is about the men of the 376th Heavy Bombardment Group, one of the most famous and heavily decorated units of World War II. It is derived from the personal documents, letters, and words of its veterans, as well as from official records. The Group was unique in that itwas the only American heavy bomb group activated in overseas combat, the first American unit to bomb "Fortress Europe", and the first group to be based on the European continent.
This paper presents an analysis of the 306th Bomb Group’s contributions during World War II. Rather than providing a simple recounting of the various dates and accomplishments, the paper analyzes some of the key indicators and statistics of the group’s performance. In particular, the paper focuses on comparing aircraft losses and bombing results of the 306th with the Eighth Air Force’s. The analysis also examined other areas, such as: mission aborts, enemy aircraft claimed destroyed, weather conditions over target, bombing methods used, presence of fighter escorts, and strength of enemy air defenses (enemy fighter aircraft and flak). The purpose of the analysis was to gain a better understanding of the group’s overall performance within the bigger scope of the Eighth Air Force’s war effort. The analysis was conducted in three steps. First, the archives of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) were searched for statistics on the 306th. Next, similar statistics were collected for the Eighth Air Force. Finally, the data for the two units was analyzed and compared, to aid in determining conclusions. To facilitate the last step of the research, the air war was divided into four periods. The goals and objectives for each period were used as criteria to grade the unit’s effectiveness. In general, the study concluded that the 306th Bomb Group was a “typical” B-17 bomber group in World War II. When comparing the various statistics and graphs provide in this paper, we see that in most cases there was little difference in the data for the 306th and the Eighth Air Force. However, the statistics do not tell the whole story. As one of the cadre groups of the Eighth Air Force, many of the improvements and lessons learned during the early period of the war were at the expense of the 306th. These early lessons and experiments were important and led to the improvements that saved many lives and brought an end to the war.
This new book is an illustrated history of the 451st Bomb Group in World War II. As part of the USAAFs 15th Air Force, they flew their B-24 Liberators from Castellucia, Italy to heavily defended targets throughout the Mediterranean theater of war. During their combat tour the 451st was awarded three Presidential Unit Citations for their ability to get to the target no matter what the enemy threw at them.
This is the forgotten story of the American World War II dead. Told from personal family letters, official documents, contemporary magazine and newspaper articles, historical research, and previously unpublished photographs, this is the first book to fully describe the return of the valiant dead to America after World War II, in tribute to those who gave their lives, as well as to those who mercifully brought them home. Few people know that the United States was the only nation to bring home our war dead after World War II. The bodies of America's fallen were removed from foreign graves across the globe, often years after they died. More than 280,000 were recovered, leaving that number of American families with an agonizing choice: return their beloved sons to the homeland, or let them rest in military cemeteries overseas in the countries they died to liberate. Some of our allies were strongly against the idea, fearing their citizens' reactions to not being able to bring home their own sons. But it was done because American families demanded it: not as a collective, organized effort, but one family - one father, mother, widow, or sibling - at a time.
