Military site : airfield
Control Tower at Tortorella Airfield, Italy Home of the 99th Bomb Group
B-17G-30-DL #42-38201 "2nd Patches" 99th BG - 346th BS - 15th AF
Circa 1944 - B-17G #42-32111, Del Cheyenne 24/1/44; McDill 7/2/44; Morrison 9/3/44; Ass 816BS/483BG Tortorella, Italy. 13/3/44; Battle Damaged on mission to Budapest 14/7/44 w/Bob Goesling, (crew ?); made a forced landing at Foggia Main w/30,000 flak holes !!; Salvaged 15/7/45. Photo by my father Algy Spurr.
Right side nose art for B-17G, 42-102855 Weary Willie, 1944. "Willie hurrying off to the weeds with his pants at half-mast."
Lt. William A. Hunnewell (Pilot) in front of Weary Willie 42-102855. Tortorella Air Base, Foggia, Italy, 1944
Sgt.Gordon D. Beese (Waist Gunner) in front of Weary Willie 42-102855 - KIA 4/07/44 flying on 42-32014 - Pappy Yokum over Treviso, Italy due to direct hit with flak. 99th Bomb Group mission #173
B17 possibly Swamp Gal (Tortorella airfield, Foggia, Italy, July 1944) WW2
R.A.S.C group photo with American service men in front of B17 Swamp Gal (Tortorella airfield, Foggia, Italy, July 1944) WW2
R.A.S.C group photo with American service men (Tortorella airfield, Foggia, Italy, July 1944) WW2
Tortorella Airfield was a temporary wartime facility, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Construction was initiated shortly after Allied forces seized control of the Tavoliere plain around Foggia, Apulia, Italy.[1]
The major tenant of the airfield was the 99th Bombardment Group, which arrived from Oudna Airfield, Tunisia on 11 December 1943. It was eqipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers.[2][page needed] Tortorella was shared with the Royal Air Force 205 Group, 37 Squadron. It was equipped with Wellington Mk.X, LB-30 Liberators, Sterlings and Lancaster bombers. Tortorella was one of the few stations that the RAF was in a tenant status to the US Army Air Forces[1]
The 99th Bomb Group consisted of four squadrons:[3][page needed]
346th Bombardment Squadron
347th Bombardment Squadron
348th Bombardment Squadron
416th Bombardment Squadron
The airfield had a single, 6,700' x 100' asphalt runway laid over Pierced Steel Planking, oriented 16/34. A second (unfinished) runway east of the main runway was used as a crash strip. There were two perimeter tracks, and several other loop taxiways each containing about 50 aircraft parking hardstands. The 99th used the west side of the field, and the RAF the east.[1]
There may have been some temporary hangars and buildings, however it appears that personnel were quartered primarily in tents, and most aircraft maintenance took place in the open on hardstands. It also had a steel control tower.[1] Headquarters for the 99th Bomb Group was located in the town of Tavernola, about 3 km east of the airfield.[1]
Both the RAF and the 99th departed after the end of the war, the 99th moving to Marcianise Airfield in late October 1945, where its B-17s were placed into storage[2] Sometime after that departure, the engineers moved in and dismantled the facility.
Today Sterparone airfield has been returned to agriculture, however extensive scarring of the landscape remains, showing various dispersal pads and taxiways and other features.
Not yet known
Group
Constituted as 99th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28 Jan 1942. Activated on 1 Jun 1942. Trained with B-17's. Moved to North Africa, Feb-May 1943, and assigned to Twelfth AF. Entered combat in Mar 1943 and bombed such targets as airdromes, harbor...
Group
'As part of the 15th Air Force in WWII, the 483rd Bombardment Group (H) played a significant role in the eventual defeat of Germany's forces. Its four combat squadrons, the 815th, 816th, 817th and 840th flew a total of 5,623 sorties from 12 April 1944...
Military | Sergeant | B-17 Waist Gunner | 99th Bomb Group
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 99th Bomb Group
Assigned 346BS, 99BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Blechhammer 2-Dec-44 flak, crashed Ratibor. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 10030.
Awards: PH.
Military | Sergeant | Assistant Engineer | 486th Bomb Group
Assigned 346BS, 99BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Blechhammer 2-Dec-44 flak, crashed Ratibor. Killed in Action. MACR 10030.
Awards: PH.
Military | Sergeant | Radio Operator | 99th Bomb Group
Assigned 346BS, 99BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Blechhammer 2-Dec-44 flak, crashed Ratibor. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 10030.
Awards: PH.
Military | Colonel | Pilot, instructor in navigation and flight | 99th Bomb Group
Richard Ernest Evans grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee. He started his flying career graduating from the Primary Flying School, Love Field, March 21, 1940, Class of 40-E. He continued his flight training, transferred to Flight #8 Advanced Training...
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 99th Bomb Group
Assigned 346BS, 99BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Blechhammer 2-Dec-44 flak, crashed Ratibor. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 10030.
Awards: PH.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Gunner | 483rd Bomb Group
Bill flew over 27 missions before being shot down by flak.
he was held as a POW for over a year.
MACR 7107
Military | First Lieutenant | B-17 Pilot | 99th Bomb Group
Military | Technical Sergeant | Radio Operator | 483rd Bomb Group
Assigned to 815BS, 483BG, 15AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Weiner Neustadt in B-17F 42-29856 flak hit, lost two engines and trailing fuel, crew baled out before aircraft exploded. Prisoner of War (POW). 10-May-44. MACR 4836.
...
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 99th Bomb Group
Assigned 346BS, 99BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Blechhammer 2-Dec-44 flak, crashed Ratibor. Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 10030.
Awards: PH.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 26/3/44; Kearney 13/4/44; Grenier 29/4/44; Assigned 728BS/452BG [9Z- ] Deopham Green 3/5/44; damaged by enemy aircraft at Poltava with Joe Antol 21/6/44; repaired & re-ass 15AF Italy 29/9/44; Assigned 346BS/99BG Tortorella 11/12/44;...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 10/4/44; Hunter 27/4/44; Dow Fd 10/5/44; Assigned 346BS/99BG Tortorella 19/5/44; in base taxi accident with Dick Schildmeyer 24/2/45; 97m Salvaged 26/4/45; WEARY WILLIE.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 19/1/44; MacDill 29/1/44; Morrison 1/3/44; Assigned 817BS/483BG Sterparone 12/3/44; transferred 347BS/99BG Tortorella 31/3/44; Missing in Action 22m Ploesti 18/5/44 with Herschel McClain, Gilroy, Lindquist, Corcoran, Miaskiewicz,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 31/12/42; Salina 10/1/43; DeRidder 31/1/43; Morrison 1/2/43; Assigned 346BS/99BG Navarin 23/2/43; Oudna 4/8/43; Tortorella 11/12/43; Ed Karnes’ crew, 114m transferred weather aircraft 304BW Cerignola 28/10/44; Salvaged 23/8/45. El...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 31/12/42; Salina 11/1/43; DeRidder 31/1/43; Morrison 1/2/43; Assigned 346BS/99BG Navarin, Alg 3/2/43; Oudna, Tun 4/8/43; Tortorella, It 11/12/43; 100+m transferred 483BG Tortorella, It 31/3/44; 429BS/2BG Amendola, It 4/44; Salvaged 2...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 18/2/43; Gt Falls 20/2/43; Salinas 18/3/43; Morrison 29/3/43; Assigned 341BS/97BG Chateau-du-Rhumel 16/4/43; Pont-du-Fahs 1/8/43; Depienne 15/8/43; transferred 346BS/99BG Oudna 14/11/43; Tortorella 11/12/43; 483BG Tortorella 31/3/44;...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 19/2/43; Salina 8/3/43; Smoky Hill 12/3/43; Assigned 348BS/99BG Navarin 6/6/43; Oudna 4/8/43; Tortorella 12/11/43; transferred 122BS/1FG Tunis 8/10/44, then Vincenzo, It.; taxi accident with Ed Clare at Salvaged Sota, It 26/12/44;....
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 27/2/43; Smoky Hill 22/3/43; Tinker 9/4/43; Nashville 13/4/43; Morrison 18/4/43; Assigned 346BS/99BG Navarin 5/5/43; Oudna 4/8/43; Tortorella 11/12/43; transferred 815BS/483BG Tortorella 31/3/44; Missing in Action Weiner Neustadt 10/5...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 5/11/43; Gt Falls 10/11/43; Gr Island 26/11/43; Assigned 347BS/99BG Tortorella 31/12/43 (first G in sqd); 29m transferred 20BS/2BG Amendola 28/3/44; Missing in Action (95m) Moravska Ostrova, Czech. 29/8/44 with Bob McCloskey,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 17/1/44; Billings 20/1/44; Amarillo 4/2/44; MacDill 4/2/44; Morrison 9/3/44; slated 96BG, but Assigned 840BS/483BG Tortorella 14/3/44; transferred 20BS/2BG Amendola 31/3/44; Missing in Action Moravska Ostrova, Czech. 2/8/44 with Jim...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 02 November 2016 13:32:35 | 466thHistorian | Created entry with name, latitude, longitude, usaaf from date, usaaf to date, construction date and history |
| Sources | ||
http://www.forgottenairfields.com/italy/apulia/foggia/tortorella-s571.html |
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