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HISTORICAL RECORD - December 1943
December 20, 1943
The advanced party, composed of Lt. Col. Price, Maj. Mckamy, Major Snaith and Cpt. Wright joined the first flight of the air echelon at Tunis and arrived together in Manduria.
The camp is located in the middle of an old olive grove. Quite an experience for those of us who hadn’t seen olives growing. The Italian peasants with their two wheeled carts and ornate harness
on their horses are an interesting picture. The old castle visible from the camp is intriguing. Frederic the second of Sicily is supposed to have built it in the twelfth century.
It continues to rain as we line up for chow under the trees. Groups of officers and enlisted men gather to hear about the
Bari raid where we lost 16 ships.
A sergeant who was present tells the weird details with embellishment of his own.
The camp is a former Italian airfield. Signs over the various buildings read, "Alloggio Uficciale," "Ricovero" etc. A Good deal of conjecture as to who will be housed where.
Rooms are chosen all over the camp. Twelve crews draw blankets for a provisional stay, until the rest of the crews arrive from North Africa. The ground echelon will not be in for several weeks.
It continues to rain and everything gets wet and muddy. "So this is sunny Italy"!
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December 21, 1943
Still undecided about quarters. There are rumors that combat crews will be housed and ground personnel will live in tents. We begin to worry about
pup tents in the mire and mud.
A great deal of interest is enviced in nearby Manduria. Some officers and enlisted men find transportation and go into town. Reports are very unencouraging__still drizzling. Italian officers and
soldiers are still living on the base. There are conflicting emotions about them. "why are they still here?" someone explains that they are co-belligerents. They look rather meek and tired.
In Manduria we buy shelled almonds and figs. The legal tender is now Italian Lira. One Lira is equivalent to one cent in American currency. The streets of the city are winding, muddy and a
succession of holes. Women drawing water at the city fountain remind us of water carriers seen in Italian tapestries.At every turn we are assailed by groups of ragged dirty children asking for matches,
candy and chewing gum. "Allo Joe, chewin gomma" "Allo Joe, cigarette."
Other crews continue to arrive, making a total of 24. We are still being fed by the 331st service squadron.
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December 22, 1943
Cots were issued today to all combat crews. All the various departments were provisionally set up in the old Italian barracks. The lean too at the hangar will house the S-2 headquarters
when finished. The field has possibilities but there is a lot of work to be done.
Today we inquired about supplies. Everything is hard to get, so it seems. Majors Pendleton and Blake, 47th wing S-2's give us a few pointers, ways and means of securing lumber, nails and plywood.
Major McKamy, group S-2, and his assistant, Lt. Campa, begin to plan the war room and S-2 headquarters.
Everywhere we are stumped with the presence of Italian soldiers. We will have more room when they move out. (January 1st, we are told) No electric lights yet and no bulbs to be found.
Some are found at $5.00 each. All members of the group try to bargain for anything that resembles a lamp. Alas! Nobody can speak Italian! The populace raises prices in Manduria and Oria.
Morale is good, but the weather is humid. Progress is slow due to constant rain.
More crews arrived today. Those who have been in camp three days are long time residents.
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December 23, 1943
Today we set up our first mess for officers and enlisted men.
Lt. Hart,
"Georgia" to all of us, is shouting his orders about in his southern accent. We are served cafeteria style and take our
mess kits under an olive tree or on a rock for a table.
Lt. "Stormy" Jackson, group weather officer, is appointed transportation officer. 40 men are sent to Manfredonia to transport an assortment of jeeps, command cars etc. They sleep in the rain and live
on K rations. A couple have flats along the way and several get lost in the maze of narrow streets in the villages along the way.
Lt. Col. Price is trying to decide where to house the Group Headquarters. A two storey stone house is selected in the center of the field. The 62nd service group gives us four tables and six chairs with
which to set up housekeeping. Everyone begins to look around for furniture, stoves and anything that can serve to make life less difficult.
There is a rumor out today that the first mission will be flown in a couple of days. All combat crews are anxious to be on the first mission. Col. Mills decides to rotate each squadron.
The runway is a muddy mess yet and rainy weather continues. "Sunny Italy" is nothing more than a chamber of commerce catch phrase.
The limited supply of American liquors is being exhausted and the men begin to drink vino. Every variety begins to appear on the market.
The misleading assurances given us in the states begin to become evident. Cigars are almost impossible to find; whiskies are something to talk about wistfully under an olive tree, and all other supplies
which were supposed to be "Plentiful" we do without.
C rations and field rations taste good in this nippy weather. Lt. Hart is doing a fine job as mess officer.
Today we discovered that a shave can be had for 2 lire, the equivalent of 2 cents. A haircut is 5 lire but a bulb is $5.00. The laws of economics are getting the 450th down!
More crews came in and more rain comes down. There is uncomforting news that the ground echelon will not arrive until the middle of January. Woe is me!
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December 24, 1943
Rumors got about that we would have a real turkey dinner on this day, but after so many field and C rations it was impossible to believe that we could eat good old fashioned turkey.
We had all been busy in group headquarters trying to get our offices organized. The intelligence room had been selected, and all of space allocated to the various departments, carefully surveyed
with a view to setting up business. The great outcry was: "Where do I find lumber, nails and building materials?"
We soon found out that nails were at a premium whenever found. Lumber could be requisitioned provided we could find a typewriter and paper. The 331st service squadron furnished both and
the first requisition reached Major Baker, S-4 of the 62nd service group. Through mud and rain, major McKamy and Lt. Campa acquired a weapons carrier and made the initial trip to Manduria in an
effort to secure materials.
By dusk, the first load of precious lumber (20 boards) and a few pieces of Italian plywood came in to possession of the 450th HQ. We also found 5 kilos of wire nails.
It was still raining when we lined up for chow. It was really turkey, so help me! The boys in the kitchen deserved plenty of credit for putting out as good a dinner as could be found anywhere.
All the trimmings were prepared in a leaky, grimy kitchen formerly used by the Italian airforces.
That evening we sat around in our cold, crowded little rooms. A few of the officers had a little liquor left over and shared it in celebration of our first xmas overseas. The enlisted men also sat around
anything that afforded protection from the elements. Candles were the only source of light. It was a dismal xmas filled with thoughts of home and loved ones; filled also with conjecture as to where we would
spend the next one. Many combat crews were wondering if they would live that long. That question would be answered later. Our candles burned out and we all lay down on our cots between woolen
blankets listening to the patter of rainin "Sunny Italy."
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December 25, 1943
Just another working day. Once quarters were assigned to the various squadrons, officers and men began to make themselves as comfortable as possible. Light, warmth and protection
from the elements seem to be the important requisites for American comfort. The electrical connections to barracks and tents were soon set up. Stoves made from empty oil cans piped with empty
ammunition box lining, were installed _ _ improvised with unusual ingenuity. Shelves and wardrobes were made out of empty boxes and odd pieced lumber secured from the vicinity of the camp.
Like the old prospectors motto; ours was "Lumber is where you find it."
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December 26, 1943
There had been talk about running a mission on New Years day. The few Italian soldiers still on the base were to be moved on that day, thereby releasing several more barracks for our use.
No one knew for sure where HQ group personnel would be eventually housed. Provisionally we were in a long barracks with the 722nd squadron, but we would soon have to vacate.
More building, more rustling about for materials and considerable conjecture about the weather. Someone discovered that the odd looking
latrines
had showers and a heater that worked. In a few minutes the word got around and the usual army line could be seen sweating out a shower. It was our first
shower since _ _ well let's be modest!
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December 27, 1943
One thing we want to know. How does the CO, Col. Mills keep himself so neat? In all this mud, our shoes look like farmer's boots, and the rest of our clothes are bespattered with mud.
We are so busy setting up camp that a shave becomes a luxory. Some of the more courageous shave with cold water and use even a window pane for a glass. If we had only known!
Our barracks bags were with the ground echelon and in them we had all sorts of things we now needed.
More stoves going up. A few wrecked
Stukas and Savoia-Marcheti's were stripped of brass piping and valves. German water cans made good
gas reservoirs, and the engineering department put the pieces together at our request. Results: A gas burning stove. All the comforts of home, Eh Wot?
Col. Mills, Lt. Col. Price,
Major Gideon and Capt. Snaith were set up at 47th wing HQ. All they had to do was make a stove,
secure cots, chairs, tables and other neccessaties, and presto: They too could have a comfortable home. They did.
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December 28, 1943
Still raining. Major McKamy, Lt.'s Bowman and Quinn tried all day to nail plywood to the wall at the briefing room preparatory to setting up a map of the European theatre.
The Italian builders have promised to have the lean-to (our biggest building) ready "Domani." Well, it wasn't exactly tommorrow, it would be ready for sure "Doppo-Domani."
Question of the day: How long is "Domani?" The trouble is that between church holidays, Sundays and rainy days the construction stretches out considerably.
The day ended with the usual C rations dinner, eaten while balancing our mess kits on a rock and standing in the mud, under some olive tree.
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December 29, 1943
More of the same. Brig. Gen. Ridenour of the 47th wing speaks briefly to the group as we stand in front of provisional HQ.
We draw tobacco and writing rations. The new Italian currency is unconvincing but it seems to settle accounts. |
December 30, 1943
We are still waiting for the sun of "Sunny Italy." The wing orders a 24 hour O.D. for the group S-2 "Office." Major McKamy looks forlornly at his office composed of one yellow
rough pine table and two real craftmade chairs. The roof leaks, there are no windows and the doors are to be installed "Domani." A few maps are piled up in one corner and a big empty oil can sits
in the middle of the room.
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December 31, 1943
Things are picking up in group HQ. Major McKamy and Lt. Campa set up an Italian earthen stove to take the chill out of the recently completed rock building.
It's a dirty job but a bath and clean clothes is a resolution they will keep the very next day which will be January 1st, 1944. Both Major McKamy and Lt. Campa are rooming together and
looking forward to their ablutions and change of nice clean clothes.
Captain Wright is busy setting up his communications outfit.
Telephones are being installed and radios are being checked.
Lt. Davis has set up his armament shop and is ready for business. The "Stat" boys, Lt.'s Vogel and Schmidt, continue to keep books, rain or shine, mostly rain.
Major Gideon is trying hard to learn Italian. His French and Mexican border Spanish get in his way, but gestures and a broad grin do the rest.
Mustaches and beards are the order of the day. Major Gideons bright red mustachio is a flaming torch! Even Captain McQueen trys out for honors.
Hair raising is out of the question Major McKamy.
How shall New Years Eve be celebrated? That is the question. Lt. Vogel and a few others ride in to Bari for a real celebration. Major Orris and his 722nd men decide a quite evening
at home with the HQ officers is their barracks is best.
Stoves are purring away nicely and everyone is being kept warm.
Major Thorpe, the group medic, retires early.He walks twice around his nest, tramps down the straw, adjusts his winter
flying suit and pulls a blanket over him. With a parachute for a pillow, he has gone to bed.
Headquarters officers and men had returned early despite it being New Years Eve. Major McKamy, Captain Wright and Lt. Campa were settled down in conversation in the S-2 room.
A fire was burning in the middle of the spacious empty room and from all appearances, all was quiet.
Around 9 p.m. Lt. Campa saw what seemed a flare outside accompanied by a great commotion and shouting. My god! A raid!
"No, No, the barracks are on fire." All dashed out to see the spectacle. Clothes were being flung through windows, and officers clad in very little came dashing out with smoke-filled eyes.
The dry wooden barracks saturated with gas spilled from stoves rose up like a pillar of fire. Major Orris went out last in his effort to see all his men out.
Everyone was accounted for. The Italian Fire Department arrived and after much shouting in "Unknown tongue" managed to set their truck too near the conflagration. More shouting and
gesticulating and finally a sad limber stream of water dripped from the end of the nozzle. It was a Mack Sennett comedy incarnate!
Despit the tragedy of losing ones pants (and all else too), this bit of humor did not pass unperceived. The crowd roared. The victims resigned to an inevitable fate, stood around and joked
with the rest. "There goes my new blouse! What a swell flame it makes."
Suddenly all hell broke loose. The .45 cal. Ammunition of the officers pistols began to explode, and a few pellets shizzed by. The crowd took to cover, as the "Pop corn" grew in intensity.
It was more noise than danger.
Headquarters officers were left with the clothes they had on. Sans beds, sans equipment, sans everything. Major McKamy, Captain Wright and Lt. Campa were dirtier than ever with no
bath and change of clothes immediately in view.
The fire was localized by a favorable wind that blew it away from the other barracks and it finally burned down. It was probably the hottest celebration headquarters had known despite the
fact that it continued to drizzle. Major Thorpe, who had walked out in his all purpose clothes, went back to bed with no preliminaries.
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A very special thanks to Jim Ciborski, son of John C. Ciborski, 720th Squadron, for supplying the narratives and pictures
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