The Italian Campaign of World War II happened to coincide with the last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Bad news for the 340th Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces, which happened to be based at Pompeii Airfield at the time of the eruption. Yeah. That Pompeii.
Slightly less than 1,900 years after the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, a group of B–25 Mitchell bombers were stationed a few miles from the foot of the volcano, part of the Allied invasion of Italy proceeding up the Apennine Peninsula. It was March 1944, and Vesuvius was about to erupt.
The eruption would cause one of the heaviest losses to any US bombardment group in World War II.
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Wow.
Click the source links for the whole thing.
Source -> http://jalopnik.com/5861432/mount-vesuvius-caused-more-allied-bomber-losses-than-a-nazi-air-raid via http://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/Vesuvius.html
Early links -> http://www.dannyfinnegan.com/2011/02/d-day-pics.html
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