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IL 450° GRUPPO DI BOMBARDAMENTO (PESANTE) I COTTONTAILS ( LE CODE DI COTONE)

Bomb Group was finally assembled at the Alamagordo Air Base inNew Mexico. The first crews arrived late August and early September 1943 for group training. They started leaving for overseas duty on or about November 20, 1943.Staging was completed at Herrington, Kansas - - POE was Morrison Air Field, West Palm Beach, Florida. First stop was Waller Air Base in Trinidad - - Belem. Brazil - - Natal Brazil - - Dakar, French West Africa - - Marrakech - - A stop in the middle of the Sahara Desert.Then to Tunis and finally arrived at their base of operations near Manduria Italy 0n December 20, 1943.This Webmasters crew was in the first cottontail Liberator to land at their new home in Italy. The 450^th Bomb Group left Alamagordo with sixty-two brand new Liberators, most came from Ford in Willow Run and were superbly built by dedicated men and women of the Detroit area. Within four months only six (6) of the original crews were able to fly against the Luftwaffe all others were shot down. The Commanding Officer Colonel John S. Mills was seen shedding many tears at such carnage. This webmaster’s crew failed to return from their second mission over Ploiesti on April 24. 1944 and all were taken prisoner in Romania. This left only five of the original sixty-two crews still able to fly. A Little know fact of that air war over Europe was “When a four engine bomber was shot down with ten men on board on average less than three escaped with their lives. Here are some photos of the 450^th Bomb Group with more to come.

This small ten year old Italian boy is shown teaching the men of the 450^th how to speak Italian. As a second way to earn some money we allowed him to shave us with astraight razor for twenty five cents each.

Two Mandurian children, Brother and Sister holding empty food cans outside the mess hall. Begging for scraps of food uneaten by the American G.I. It had to bring tears to the men Seeing such small children begging for food, Most of the men just went through the chow line A second time to bring fresh food out to them For a decent meal. When their cans were full They rushed home to share with their families. (Courtesy Al Saldarini 1^st CCU)

The 450^th B.G. Headquarters building seems deserted since all of the bombers are away on a mission and the ground crews are relaxing before the bombers return and find most needing extensive repair of the damage caused by the air battles and flak. In 1996 Bill Fili headed a group of Sixty former Cottontails and Wives for a visit. They found the Headquarters Building still standing but the hanger has long since disappeared. The foreground is now a blooming olive orchard. The runway is still there, unusable due to the ground aging into gravel. The mile long runway still stirs with the haunting sounds of Liberator Bombers taking off on a mission of destruction for both sides. A legacy of man’s inhumanity to man. (Courtesy Joe Flanagan)

Leisure time was spend in this Happy Hour club by the crews and ground support personnel of the720^th Bomb Squadron.

There still are some rare photos from the various bomb groups. Here’sone that shows Dominic Caramonica of Springfield PA beside Liberator known then as “PAOLI LOCAL”

Perhaps someone in DelawareCounty. Penna. is also shown.

The pilot and his crew of this Liberator with the Nose Art “Wells Cargo” was John Wells This bomber and crew left their mark on the German Luftwaffe.

An original photo of Bill Fili's and his crew Liberator -- shot down over Ploiesti on April 24, 1944

This photo of approximately sixty-eight air crew members of the 450^th Bomb Group that ten days ago were Prisoners of War in Romania. They were rescued with another one thousand POW’s on September 1, 1944 in a dramatic rescue. They were the first Prisoners of War In Europe to be returned to freedom. The details of that dramatic rescue can be read in the published book “ Passage to Valhalla”.

Bombs being dropped on the Messerschmidt fighter assembly plant at Regensberg. Germany on February22, 1944. The 450^th Bomb Groupwas awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for accuracy in Bombing that evening. On a Berlin Sally German Broadcast she called us the "White Tailed Bombers" which later became the “Cottontail Bombers”