ANR + Croatian Air Force vs 15th USAAF, 2 Apr 44

[Don Caldwell]

Thanks, Larry, for this very useful information. Savić/Ciglić is my primary (only?) source for the Croatian Air Force, and the material you can add from your references and interviews is greatly appreciated.

Don

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Don Caldwell

Thanks, Andreas -- I'll write the Croat effort off as modest; the small force apparently filed no claims.

NIck --

Is there Luftwaffe (or other Axis) material in the MASAF Ops Summaries? If so, can you recommend any specific (reasonably-sized) files I might order?

Don

There are narratives of missions either Group-by-Group or target-by-target which do say when and where they were intercepted but nothing on the opposing units, just the aircraft type. Attached is an extract from one of the few that I have a copy of.

[Don Caldwell]

Thanks Nick. This appears similar to (or identical with) the data in the 15th Air Force mission reports, which I've scraped together over the years from several sources -- the folks in the MTO obviously didn't have buffs in mind when compiling and archiving their reports. (No wonder the 15th AF never attracted a Roger Freeman!)

Don

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Don Caldwell

No wonder the 15th AF never attracted a Roger Freeman!

Don

Well, if he'd grown up in Foggia rather than England ...

[veltro]

Originally Posted by Don Caldwell

No wonder the 15th AF never attracted a Roger Freeman!

I know it is a joke, and I am certain that the quality or the tidyness of the mission reports had nothing to do with the curtain of silence that prevented any serious and in-depth work on the 15th or even 12th AF to be done...

Anyway, it really is a pity, because it won't have been necessary a "Roger Freeman" alter-ego to give at least a bit of justice to two of the most under-estimated and neglected air forces of WW2, especially when compared to the results obtained, the losses sustained and the conditions in which they operated.

Personally I think that the treatment reserved to the 15th AF (and to the 12th AF too, I repeat) by the English-speaking historians is close to a shame, and this sadly was already felt over 60 years ago by the men operating with them, with the vast majority being sure that their efforts would have been forgotten very soon, if compared to those of the "richer" and more glamorous brothers in North Western Europe...

My own thoughts, of course...

[NickM]

Originally Posted by veltro

Personally I think that the treatment reserved to the 15th AF (and to the 12th AF too, I repeat) by the English-speaking historians is close to a shame, and this sadly was already felt over 60 years ago by the men operating with them, with the vast majority being sure that their efforts would have been forgotten very soon, if compared to those of the "richer" and more glamorous brothers in North Western Europe...

My own thoughts, of course...

Veltro, I have read more than a few 15th AF Vets memoirs who make that point that it was easier to live in a swanky Hotel in London(with it's booze, hookers & parties) than in some muddy canvas tent somewhere near Foggia.

NM