Why is the 15th AAF neglected by aviation historians?

[Dénes Bernád]

While reading the post on the book on losses of 8th and 9th Air Forces, the question arouse (again): why is the 15th AAF so much neglected?

This high unit made an outstanding performance during W.W. 2, which would fully deserve a detailed account, or more. However, so far - except for one slim booklet I am aware of - it was neglected by historians (except for a few Group histories and aces' stories).

What would be the reason for this?

[kaki3152]

Because a Roger Freeman for the 15th AF has not stepped forth.
And its getting late....

[drgondog]

I agree that a 15th AF counterpart for Freeman has not stepped forward on this, but I think another reason is this.

Simply, the USAAF airwar (and ground war) axis was primary England to Germany and the center of gravity for USAAF was 8AF for the major battles for air supremacy.

Reflecting back on history, even from the focus of correspondents, politicians and celebs - it started in London and radiated outwards. This focus enabled far more information and photos of various groups than just the local command PRO's

Even the 9th AF is not getting the publicity and attention it deserves and simply, like the 15th (and 12th before it) doesn't have the volumes of details published or captured from a visual standpoint - which for most historians/book writers is essential.

Just my opinion

Regards,

Bill

[Atcham Tower]

Any Italian equivalent of Roger Freeman would have been too busy scavenging for food etc to pay much attention to recording aerial activity. Poor old Italy was seriously wrecked as the Allies moved north. My Dad saw it at first hand and did some of it with his artillery unit. Agreed that the 15th needs a proper history. I can recommend two excellent novels - The Gunner (author?)and the The Sky is a Lonely Place by Louis Falstein. They both show how rough the war was for the 15th.

[Graham Boak]

Kookaburra did a rather nice book, admittedly mainly a photo collection, on the 12 & 15th AFs. There are unit histories of several of the components.

[CJE]

Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, I heard that most individual cards for the a/c destpatched to MTO were destroyed or incomplete.

[NickM]

Originally Posted by Atcham Tower

Any Italian equivalent of Roger Freeman would have been too busy scavenging for food etc to pay much attention to recording aerial activity. Poor old Italy was seriously wrecked as the Allies moved north. My Dad saw it at first hand and did some of it with his artillery unit. Agreed that the 15th needs a proper history. I can recommend two excellent novels - The Gunner (author?)and the The Sky is a Lonely Place by Louis Falstein. They both show how rough the war was for the 15th.

In a similar note, I recall reading some now forgotten accounts of 15 AF Bomber Crews who sarcastically noted that the 8th got all the publicity because the newsfolks would rather live it up in London than live in a muddy tent in Italy;

NickM

[fsbofk]

I've read that also - that correspondents preferred the more comfy digs in London, from where they could visit 8AF bases, get their material, and then return to London to write their stories (and continue other pursuits). To be sure, the 8AF launched the first major US offensive action in Europe and thus became the focus for the radio and print media in their efforts to provide war news for the "folks back home." Even certain USAAF BGs and FGs had more press coverage than others simply because they were based closer to London. Postwar, the 8AF remained in the public eye through the publication of a certain novel - and classic movie. Rightly or wrongly, the publicity surrounding the 8AF during the war set the stage for a continuation of interest in its history after the war.

[Boomerang]

A further contributing factor could be that material from the German perspective also seems to focus much more heavily on the battle with the 8 AF than the 15 AF.

Don (Boomerang)