450th BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)  NARRATIVE JANUARY 1945

The predictions of the optimists who foresaw the end of the war by the Summer of 1944 or by Fall at the latest were not fulfilled, so the 450th entered its second year of combat in Italy in the month of January 1945. The thermometer dropped lower during this second Winter abroad, but improved housing facilities, appropriate clothing, and better access to supplies served to temper the cold season's edge.

THE SIXTH WAR LOAN DRIVE

The meager figure of $3,200 at the end of the Sixth War Loan Drive was not commensurate with the usual efforts of the Group's participation in activities sponsored by the XV Air Force, so the Colonel called his staff together and put the proposition to them. How much money could the entire Group raise? In order to provide a little incentive and competition, a few prizes were offered. The Squadron with the highest cash sales would get one day off. The Squadron with the highest increase in bond purchases would also get a day off from all duties. To the crew making the largest purchase, a trip to Cairo (A load cheer greeted this offer). The officer making the highest individual purchase of bonds would get a seven day leave, and a similar prize would go to the enlisted man who likewise made the highest individual purchase. For the officer and enlisted man making the largest increase in bond purchases there would also be a seven day leave.

The 722nd Squadron promoted an interesting raffle designed by its First Sergeant Rose who invited everyone to participate in the affair. It turned out so successfully that on the last evening of the drive a similar scheme was worked out by the entire Group at the theatre. Anyone venturing out that evening would be buttonholed by an aggressive salesman with a fistful of tickets and a convincing line of sales talk that made you feel like a heel if you did not buy at least one fifty cent ticket. The proceeds went into a common pool out of which bonds were purchased and given to the lucky number holders. In addition to being a very practical scheme, everyone got a big kick out of the affair. Incidentally, it was quite a moral booster. The ease with which officers and men pulled out their wallets and paid for the tickets was eloquent proof that men overseas have a definite sense of responsibility. When the last penny was counted, the original $3,200 had swelled to a grand total of $62,536.27, with the following distribution:

            Highest Cash Purchase                    722nd Sq - $15,528.75

            Highest Increase of Bonds             720th Sq - $3,142.50

            Highest Crew Purchase                   Lt W.P. Breckenfeld 723rd Sq - $2,081.25

            Highest Officer Purchase                    Lt. William Kahn Headquarters - $957.00

            Highest Enlisted Man Purchase            Sgt. Arthur E Goodman 723rd Sq - $757.50

            Highest Officer Increase                     Lt Claude W Summers 721st Sq - $112.00

            Highest Enlisted Man Increase            M/Sgt Thomas A Coward 720th Sq - $150.00

Distribution by Organization

            722nd Squadron            $17,366.50

            720th Squadron            $17,240.00

            721st Squadron            $12,658.50

            723rd Squadron            $11,542.52

            Headquarters            $  3,728.75

            Total                            $62,536.27

AREA IMPROVEMENT

The problem of MUD which has haunted everyone in Italy, except the "Paragraph Troopers of the Chairborne Command," is about to be licked for good. A gravel cracking plant was contacted somewhere in Italy that will provide the Group with enough neatly broken gravel with which to fill every quagmire in the area. Every enlisted man and available officer has been pressed into service in order to tackle the situation. Trucks have been running back an forth to the quarry, and Italian laborers have been working faster than is their custom, building up the low spots and constructing walkways in order to make the area traversable without stepping ankle deep into the mud. By the end of the month all Squadron areas and particularly the Headquarters area had been transformed into a very presentable military camp.

S-2 ADDITION

In addition to the improvement of the grounds the building additions to S-2 and the almost completed S-4 building will go far in rounding out the picture. The new addition to the Intelligence Section started out as a mere office for the Department had and his staff, but as the building progressed, the original plan expanded until a sizeable interrogation room has been added and things had been shifted around a good bit. There is now a map room with all the necessary installations, shelves and table where the P.I. officer holds fort in the preparation of target charts and maps. A large window and counter opens form this room into the large briefing room that comfortably seats all officers participating in a maximum effort mission. The Interrogation Room also serves as an escape procedure briefing room with all the latest poop, maps and equipment needed to indoctrinate new crews. A complete Intelligence library and tables is housed in this same room where authorized personnel may drop in for self instruction. The fourth room contains desks for the Intelligence Officer and his section head as well as individual desks for all Squadron Intelligence Officers.

723RD SQUADRON AREA

The 723rd Squadron's new area is nearing completion across the road. The spacious mess halls, day room and sundry offices for the various departments are fast taking shape, and promise to be the best in the Group. No small effort has gone into building this complete area, but the 1st Sgt. Is reticent about he opening day.

THIS AND THAT

Two mechanics from every Squadron got a chance to see Florence during the month, when they were sent up there to put in condition several planes of the 47th Wing which had landed and crashed in this northern airfield. An unscheduled strafing by the Luftwaffe was an added attraction that caused some concern but not damage.

Lt. Thaddeus Cylkowski is the Group Orientation Officer who never misses an opportunity to orient anyone around camp regarding the internal affairs of German and the problems that will arise with the eventual fall of the Nazis. Everyone in camp, regardless of rank or former condition of servitude gets his dose of orientation as regularly as atabrine.

Sgt. Vendetti did not know that he would take the role of Godfather in Italy when he left for overseas service, but that is exactly what happened to him in nearby Manduria. He is not sure what responsibilities such an exalted position will require, but the bambino will always be reminded that it was an Americano that did him the honor at his baptismal rites.

The weather took part in the activities for the month of January. Twice during the month, sow fell in sufficient quantities to remind us all of what a white Christmas should look like, and although somewhat belated for the occasion, it brought some comfort to all. Cameras appeared from everywhere trying to catch that one snow scene that has not been photographed yet. The snow covered fig trees were interesting subject, and the B-24's stood out over the whitened ground. Walks had to be swept, and wings cleared in order to work but no one seemed to mind. The whole thing had a holiday spirit about it. Some availed themselves the opportunity to pelt each other in friendly jousts on snow balling.

EDUCATION

The educational program overseas is increasing its tempo to the point where we recognize it in camp under the school worthy name of "Cottontail College." The "college" boys have voted in favor of co-education, but the dearth of co-eds around Manduria had kept the "college" strictly a man's school. The signorinas in the vicinity show no bent to be college bred, so they carry on in the manner of their ancestors.

THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES MADE

With the departure of Majors Brown and Carr, Group Navigator and Group Bombardier respectively, two other officers have come up from the Squadrons to replace them. Lt. Schatzman, "Handsome Schatz" to the boys, will lead the formations to the target and "Count" Caselli will be the official "egg dropper". There should be no drop in the Group's lead with these two worthies. Lt. Caselli was Major Carr's instructor in school when "Shorty" Carr was a prospective bombardier in embryo. Good teacher, like student!

Major Melvin Engstrom took over as Commanding Officer of the 723rd Squadron during January at a very busy time. The Squadron is getting ready for a move into the area they have been constructing. Major "Ink," a West Pointer, is a decorous military man whose abstemiousness includes language, so swearing will be forsworn in the discharge of official duties.

Another new Squadron Commander took over his new duties in the person of Major Bushnell, promoted recently from Captain. He is now in charge of the 721st and makes his home with "Jose Carioca."

POSSIBLE COMMISSIONS? POSSIBLE!

"The Board," that August assembly before whom the strongest knees quake and the coolest break out in a sweat, viewed, reviewed, and interviewed aspirants for Warrants from the ranks of NCO's. The 450th did not do so bad and Communications made a good showing.

Infantry OCS in Italy sets the Non-Coms buzzing with anticipation as word gets about that three will be commissions. Opinions vary as to the advisability of leaving the Air Corps. It's a down to earth job for those who have been up in the air since they entered the army but a bar is a bar, and RHIP is something to think about in any man's army.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Officer's Club in Lecce has been attracting good numbers of officers from the 450th lately with their spaghetti dinners and other tempting morsels. On the days when the Grecco Theater is playing a good bill, one can go early enough to enjoy a dinner at the club before going to the theatre. And the performances have not been so bad. A few complete shows from Broadway come down occasionally and give a good account of themselves. "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" starring Katherine Cornell is now history, but save for its weak theme, it was professionally executed. The mystery of the "Ten Little Indians" was more appropriate entertainment for as mixed crowd which goes to a play out of boredom.

So and So from Hollywood was the big name on that evening, but most eyes converged on the less famous but more desirable feminine lead shoes blonde charms she did not spare. For a fast moving rollicking pantomime, "Art Thou Cooking" did more to entertain than anything else before. Although billed a "musical" comedy, the accent was on the comedy. The definitely GI twist accentuated the anachronistic quality of the "comedie de circumstance." The only difficulty in enjoying these traveling shows is the lack of transportation. An entire book could be written on the Army's lack of sufficient vehicles, despite all the perfectly reasonable explanations on paper.

The Red Cross in Manduria, five miles distant as the crow flies or twice the distance if you go bumping along in a borrowed jeep, may not be a Yale Club, but it is not a bad place to spend the day when there is a stand down. The combat crews patronize the hot doughnuts, excellent cookies and other knick knacks quite regularly. Occasional music by the local Italian orchestras and a dance now and then serve to take your mind away from the flak alleys of the day before or the day after. And if you don't sleep siesta, you'll be there in time for a dish of ice cream. There was a new arrival who asked for a malted milk and expected to get it! There's one in every bomb group. "Egg-in-your beer-boys" they call them.

And speaking of doughnuts and coffee, there is a well-worn path between the 450th and 47th Wing that leads from the gate to the doughnut shop of the Red Cross doughnutiers. The "nine o'clock" boys who like to get that last wink in the morning steady themselves with a few sinkers and a cup of hot coffee. Some of the "chair-bourne" boys (officers and men over 21) are regular customers. If you don't believe I, ask the OD, who makes two trips a day to see that the men are in proper uniform. The days when you could have your coffee in our lounging pajamas are finito.

STAGE SHOWS AND PICTURE SHOWS

Chaplain Keefe was having an early service in the theater. He was waiting for the audience to be seated, but crowds continued to pour eagerly through all doors. Could it be that religion had come here to stay, or was there an unusually rough mission scheduled? Finally the crowd settled down. The theater was crowded full. His assistant buzzed his ear: "there was a USO show following the church meeting." The Chaplain, who is no amateur, adjusted his service accordingly, and his stock went up another notch. Upon termination of the service, a gruff Sergeant was heard to say to a soldier in front of him: "Listen Joe, keep yer hat on in choich, but wen dem babes comes on de state, off wid it I says!"

There was one USO show during the month. Contrary to the usual belief that men enjoy only risqué and ribald jokes, the most entertaining part of the program is usually provided by a truly good comedian. The drooling and "arf-arfing" head in soldier audiences is a response to tradition. If the girl is really good she gets a hand, but when an actor is "terrific" he lays them in the aisles. The antics of this month's comedian are still remembered, but the poor showing of a has-been, broken down board-trodder is not appreciated. The audiences in Italy are getting weary of the 'songstress" who was so "famous" in the State, but whom no one ever heard of before coming overseas. The cute little trick who showed up in a scantly costume to show the boys what they were fighting for had a sprained ankle, but nobody minded that.

Picture shows are as regular as the clock. With our indoor theater on the base, weather is no hazard. The GI movies are much more than the mane implies. No better orientation could be hoped for than some of the combat shorts shown on these nights. Occasionally some very poor sort of propaganda designed for consumption back home slips in on he menu here, and is greeted with hoots of derision, but the ordinary GI show is something new that the men go for in a big way.

NEW YEAR'S

Last year's New Year's Eve was celebrated with a conflagration that burned down a complete barracks including the unpacked effects of over 22 newly arrived officers. No such celebration was held in 1945. The various Day Rooms in the Squadrons stocked up enough whisky and cognac with which to warm their interiors. When the last celebrant had been put to bed and the last toast had been drunk, New Year's resolutions were in order. One resolution lived up to was the one made on Christmas day, namely, not to start another "offensive" in the middle of the night by firing all ammunition available in camp. In order to help the boys keep their resolution, all firearms had been turned in by the enlisted men, so everyone slept peacefully until revelry.

No matter how poor army chow may be during the year, one an always look forward to such holidays as Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. Such dinners as the cooks prepare on these national and universal holidays are pleasant reminders of the good life we left behind. This year's turkey was up to par – with all the trimmings and embellishments that the occasion called for. But if the pie was not like mother used to make, neither was the "dough" like the one WE used to make.

RECEPTION AT THE COLONEL'S

The reception at Christmas was so successful that Colonel Jacoby decided to have one large enough to include all his officers. A bit of remodeling in his case turned into a very attractive villa with all the necessary facilities for a very fine reception. Tables loaded with canapés, confitures and cocktail tidbits were reminiscent of the Pre-Pearl Harbor cornucopia. Tom Collins was the order of the day, and there was plenty of it (Tom Collins and order).

MORAL

The aftermath of the Christmas season affluence of ail and packages made the post-holiday shortage more noticeable. A few parcels delayed en route continued to arrive during January, but for the most part, mail had slowed down to a mere drip. The large amounts of greeting cards and letters from home had spoiled us all, and it was hard to get back in normalcy.

With the steady progress of the war, rumors ran rampant in every Day Room and latrine. "Have you heard that ground personnel is being reclassified for infantry service?" That is number one. An unusual wave of enthusiasm in their work has swept over those who hitherto had been a bit lax in the performance of their duties.

It has also gotten around that the new Flying Evaluation Board is going to tighten the strings on flying personnel. That extra half-pay comes in handy, so there may be some eager beavers in this quarter too. The Aircraft Accident Committee was also supposed to wield a mighty axe. An increase of accidents lately has threatened to let the axe fall on necks whose heads are not too steady.

OPERATIONS

There was a decided drop in the bombing market this month due to adverse weather. Only five missions were attempted, three of which dropped on PFF and did not observe their results. The other two visual bombings were scored, giving us the lead still with a score of 62.05%. Only 135 sorties were flown during the month, but there was a good deal of practice flying. Most of targets were marshalling yards in Austria and Yugoslavia.

STRENGTH

The strength was the highest it has ever been. At the beginning of the month there were 2,550 officers and men in the organization, but the 41 casualties, 40 of which were MIA and one KIA, reduced us to 2509 by the end of the month. Enemy flak did not do much damage during this thirty day period. Only four men were wounded.

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

The Bronze Star Medal, which had been playing hard to get for so long, finally came through in great style during January, as the following table shows:

            Silver Star                             1

            D.F.C.                                     34

            OLC to the DFC                 4

            Bronze Star                          14

            Air Medal                         190

            OLC to Air Medal               221

            Purple Hearts                         21

            Good Conducts                    171

The outstanding decoration presented on January 8 was the Distinguished Unit Citation awarded for the raid on Regensburg, Germany on February 25, 1944.

SPECIAL REPORT

ONE YEAR IN COMBAT

The month of January 1945 is the most significant in the history of the 450th Bombardment Group because of the three events that coincided on the 8th of this month. Exactly a year ago this day, the Group participated on its first combat mission from their newly acquired base in Manduria, Italy. The ground crews had not arrived yet, neither had the ground echelon. The crews were filled with eager anticipation at the prospects of combat, but he first mission was not as successful as it could have been. In the course of twelve months the "Cottontails" have learned a great deal. Amongst other things they have learned how to stay in the lead of bombing accuracy and top maintenance in the XV Air Force.

For one year the 450th has roamed the skies above France, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, Roumania, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary and the German Reich. Every conceivable target from a railroad bridge to the oil refineries of Ploesti have been hit with scores up in the nineties. From the little village of Manduria in the heel of Italy, the Group has fanned out over a perimeter of 750 miles, from Toulon in Southern France to the oil fields of Ploesti in the Southeast. Rain, clouds, snow and mud have hot deterred the white-tailed Liberators, whose epode of "Cottontails" they earned early in their career.

WHITE TAIL LIBERATORS

"Axis Sally" the mellifluous feminine voice from Berlin, referred to less affectionately as the "Berlin Bitch", is responsible for the nickname of the 450th. On February 25, 1944 the Group attacked Regensburg in great strength with devastation results. The tail fins of the ships had been painted white in order to lessen the difficulty in assembling, and apparently the German fighters reported the markings. The story is also circulated that during this attack one of our bombers, hit by enemy fire, dropped its wheels. Several ME-109's circled around it expecting the crew to bail out, but much to their chagrin, the gunners blasted them out of their single seaters, causing them instead to hit the silk. They swore vengeance, and when the white-tailed Liberators attacked the Axis, the fighters concentrated on them, this time with devastating success upon our bombers. After knocking seven of our Libs out of the air and damaging about fifteen more, Axis Sally came on the air and gloated: "How did you like it this time, white-tailed Liberators?" Needless to add, the white insignia was removed, but the boys had become wary by then, and were on the alert for Goering's yellow-noses.

FOR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE 

On the 24th of February 1944 the Group was notified to prepare a maximum number of aircraft for an attack against the Regensburg Prufening Aircraft Factory, Germany. A successful completion of this mission would cost the enemy eight to nine months of Me-109 production and diminish Nazi interception of Allied bombings. Throughout the night previous to the attack, the ground crews worked in a muddy field and had their aircraft ready for the take off. 

At 0841 the formation took off and fought its way through adverse weather and sixty enemy fighters. A complete destruction o the target was the recon report that came back, while our losses were four bombers. This historical mission earned the 450th a DUC.

Coincidental with the anniversary of our combat operations in Italy, the Distinguished Unit Citation was presented on the ramp by Major General Nathan F. Twining, Commanding General of the XV Air Force. We had lost more aircraft than any group in the Air Force, the General said, but he also added that we were leading in performance and efficiency.

200 COMBAT MISSIONS

Also on the 8th of January, the 450th reached the 200 mission mark, all of which called for a celebration. There was a stand down the following day so the boys could go on a tear. The clubs all over the area were doing a landslide business. They had been properly decorated and well stocked with hoarded American liquor for the occasion. The COTTONTAIL CLUB hired tow orchestras and invited several WAC nationalities. Some of the boys put polish on their Polish and tried to make interesting conversations with the visiting Polish WAC's, but some of them had been born in Toulon so that made la langue francaise  the medium of exchange. The South Africans spoke English, with an occasional laps into Africans, but the officers evinced no language handicap. The English nurses rounded their "O's" and rolled their "R's" but what's a roll or two among friends. Then there were the signorinas form Lecce, and other Mandurian friends who were invited to the celebration. It was quite an inter-national affair, and it lasted well into the wee hours of the morning. The 8th of January should find us all back home. Unless something highly improbable happens, the 450th will not be in Manduria for its next celebration – we hope, we hope, we hope!!