FLYING COLT

FOREWORD

  This book is a history of events as seen from the perspective of a Liberator bomber group, the 456th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in Italy, that took part in the great air war in Europe during World War II. It covers the history of the Group from its inception in 1943 to July 7, 1944, with a summary of events afterwards. Chapters 3 and 4 are a composite of many official and private diaries obtained from sources as outlined in the previous Acknowledgments.

  The Luftwaffe dominated the skies over Europe when the 456th Bomb Group arrived in Italy in January 1944. Heavy bombers were being blasted from the skies by the Luftwaffe every time the Allies attempted to bomb in Central Europe.

  On August 17, 1943 the Eighth Air Force lost an unsustainable 60 planes and 600 airmen when it raided targets at Regensburg and Schweinfurt in Germany. Sixty more planes and 600 more airmen were lost on a second attack against Schweinfurt on October 14, 1943. Raids deep into German controlled airspace had been halted after these two raids, and didn’t resume until February 1944 because the Allies didn’t have fighters that had enough range to escort our heavy bombers.

  When Army Air Force raids deep into German controlled airspace resumed in February, 1944, many additional heavy bomber groups had arrived in Italy, including the 456th Bomb Group. Although we still didn’t have escort fighters with long enough range to protect us, it was believed that many heavy bombers attacking targets in a coordinated attack at the same time would disperse Luftwaffe fighter defenses sufficiently. The Luftwaffe would have to spread its fighter defenses between three fronts, Italy, England, and Russia, now that we were flying bombing raids from Italy.

  Control of the air over Europe was a necessary prelude to the invasion of Europe from England. Everyone agreed that without control of the skies, an invasion could not be attempted. Unknown to us in the heavy bomber groups at the time, the big three world leaders, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt had set the invasion date for Europe in early June 1944, five months after we arrived in Italy.

  Not enough has been written about that great, decisive air battle for domination of the skies over Europe which lasted from February 1944 to June 1944. Much has been written, justifiably, about the great air battle for control of the skies over Great Britain in the critical “Battle of Britain” during the summer of 1940, when the Royal Air Force achieved domination of the skies over England and prevented the German invasion of