449th BGA Website
The 449th BG(H) was based at Grottaglie, Italy in the heel of the boot. Its sister group, the 450th BG(H), was located nearby. They were two of the first bomb groups located on the mainland of Italy. The base was shared by the American and British forces. From Grottaglie, B-24s could reach as far east as Romania and as far north as Germany. That made it a perfect base for attacking the German’s infrastructure and oil refineries.
Grottaglie had been the location of Mussolini’s Air Force Academy and a dirigible base.
The base was pretty much in shambles when the allies arrived. There were even scattered planes left by the Italians.
It took about three months to bring it up to “standards”, though missions began just three weeks (January 8th, 1944) after the forward groups arrived.
The following are some of the important statistics for the group:
Veterans at the Reno, NV reunion had the following to say about the B-24s:
General Floyd Trogdon, President of the 449th BGA recapped the history and importance of the group in the following:
Col. Harris, (see later news on Col. Harris) commanding officer of the 449th Expeditionary Force, included the following history in the organization’s 2013 News Letter: 449 Col Harris
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"Doc" Allen 