[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On July 18, 1944, the Fifteenth Air Force was in I the midst of an extensive strategic bombing campaign against enemy targets in Nazi Germany and other areas of Europe under Hitler's control. It marshaled twenty-one bombardment groups in five wings, and seven fighter escort groups in one wing, all based at various airfields in the Foggia area of east central Italy, near the Adriatic Sea. From those bases, the Fifteenth Air Force launched bombing missions to various strategic targets in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, northern Italy, Czechoslovakia, and occupied parts of France. (1)
