Hi Hilli.
We just finished a book on 15 SAAF, The Aegean Pirates.
Please contact me at
[email protected]
Thx
Stefaan
We just finished a book on 15 SAAF, The Aegean Pirates.
Please contact me at
[email protected]
Thx
Stefaan
SAAF Foggia, Italy 1944
- Thread starter soalebm
- Start date
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al49
Tech Sergeant
Hi Brandon,
I just was this thread for the firs time today and I will try to give my contribution, on "the other side", based on info I can get from books in my hands or from other sources.
But, first of all, there is a link that gives many details on airports in the Foggia area used by the Allies.
Wapedia - Wiki: Foggia Airfield Complex
So far I only found that in September 1942 in the Foggia area airports were based the following Regia Aeronautica units:
104° Gruppo Bombardamento (bombers) with SM-79 Sparviero
87° Gruppo Bombardamento (bombers) with SM-79 Sparviero and
90° Gruppo Aerosiluranti (torpedo bombers) again with SM-79 Sparviero
I will add more info as soon as I can.
Cheers
Alberto
Hi Stefaa,
Congratulations on getting the book done. I know you've described the challenges of doing so in the past, but do you think there will ever be anything published on 60 SAAF? It seems strange that a unit which played such a leading role in its theatre should be so undocumented.
Cheers,
Mark
Hi.
I have started to collect all the data I can get at our archives, as well as interviewing the last surviving vets(less than 10) of 60 sqdn.
I am just going to finish a book on all the axis a.c the SAAF came across, with a friend of mine, so looking for photos of any wrecks found in all your families photoalbums, as well as any photos of the Mossies. They are as rare as budgie teeth.
There are also only a few photos of the SAAF 31 and 34 Liberators, so any scans will be most welcome.
Our problem in South Africa is that all our photographs from WWII were sent to the British HQ's as we flew under thme, apart from 60 sqdn that was under an American Unit.
15 sqdn photos were sent to 454 RAAF photographic unit early '44 onwards.
That is probably why there are so few books on the SAAF.
We have to pay the overseas archives for any SAAF photos, and the Rand is a tenth of the Pound.
Only photos I can get hold of are those in the family albums.
As for 60 sqdn, they were mostly based at San Severo.
To the chaps who kindly sent us the logbook entries, is it possible that you can send the codes and or serial no's next to those entreis, so that we can link codes to serials??
The the chap looking for the raids into Poland. 31 and 34 sqdn raids are dealt with in detail in the book 'The Men Who Went To Warsaw' by Simon Isemonger.
Do you know that book?? It is still available.
Be good
Stefaan
I have started to collect all the data I can get at our archives, as well as interviewing the last surviving vets(less than 10) of 60 sqdn.
I am just going to finish a book on all the axis a.c the SAAF came across, with a friend of mine, so looking for photos of any wrecks found in all your families photoalbums, as well as any photos of the Mossies. They are as rare as budgie teeth.
There are also only a few photos of the SAAF 31 and 34 Liberators, so any scans will be most welcome.
Our problem in South Africa is that all our photographs from WWII were sent to the British HQ's as we flew under thme, apart from 60 sqdn that was under an American Unit.
15 sqdn photos were sent to 454 RAAF photographic unit early '44 onwards.
That is probably why there are so few books on the SAAF.
We have to pay the overseas archives for any SAAF photos, and the Rand is a tenth of the Pound.
Only photos I can get hold of are those in the family albums.
As for 60 sqdn, they were mostly based at San Severo.
To the chaps who kindly sent us the logbook entries, is it possible that you can send the codes and or serial no's next to those entreis, so that we can link codes to serials??
The the chap looking for the raids into Poland. 31 and 34 sqdn raids are dealt with in detail in the book 'The Men Who Went To Warsaw' by Simon Isemonger.
Do you know that book?? It is still available.
Be good
Stefaan
Hello Brandon , my uncle Desmond Vincent Watson , Seargent Pilot , RAAF , arrived at Foggia Italy on 2nd October 1944 and died in a mission to drop supplies to Italian Partisans the evening of 12th October 1944 , he was 20yrs old , the plane he was piloting crashed near the hill town of Rora , Piedmonte , Italy , my uncle is buried in the Milan War Cemetary , regards Colleen .
Hello Brandon , its nearly impossible to leave a message on this site , its extremely frustrating , Colleen
Brandon , my uncle Des was flying Liberator KH154 on the evening he died . He had been in England flying Lancasters , so how he came to be in Italy is still a mystery to me . I read the Liberators were called flying coffins because of the location of the fuel tanks and the only exit door being near the tail of the plane . Uncle Des was in 31 Squadron . He was very handsome with laughing eyes and dimples , i have always felt his loss .
If you are trying to get info on SAAF history, try contacting a gent called Karel Zaayman who runs The Aviation Shop in Johannesburg, he is a wealth of information.If you Google 'The Aviation Shop ' or "TAS Hobbies", you'll get his contact email.
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
Thankyou kindly Alte Hase , i will , i came across an Italian site which had the complete account of the mission the night of 12th October 1944 , it even had the sounds of a plane , maps of the terrain etc and i foolishly didn't save the sit address .A number of aircraft crashed that night , i think 48 young men died in total.I never met my uncle only saw him in the photograph's and my mothers saying he was a lovely young man , i found out he played Rugby and he was a a lifsaver in the North Bondi Surf Lifesaving Club along with my father and another uncle.
I want to mention the other young men on my uncles crew , one of whom was 19 years old .When i type these things i start to cry .If i could stretch out my arms to that plane in the cold and the rain of that dark night i would try to save them , try to stop the crash , try to stop the fire.
Sadly, the story you recount was played out so many times over Europe during the war...it's tragic that so many capable, talented, full of life young men from all sides lost their lives in this way. What we can do to honour these brave men is to respect their memory, recount and research their stories for future generations, and above all, remember them and the huge sacrifices they made.
Njaco
The Pop-Tart Whisperer
If you go to his profile (click on his name) and you can leave a message there.
Sadly soalebm/Brandon hasn't been here for 2 years.
Alte Hase , its true , all the men on all sides , the remembering and honouring will hopefully continue reminding all people everywhere of the cost of war .Thankyou , Colleen
Njaco , thankyou kindly for your help , Colleen
Hi there, I just read through your post and noticing that you are talking about Foggia, I remember that my grandfather used to tell me that his uncle emigrated to the U.S. at the beginning of the XX century and that during WWII a son of this uncle came to Foggia, apparently as a U.S. air-force pilot, and visited the relatives in the small town we come from (Rionero in Vulture) which is just an hour from Foggia. The family name is Richter, or as it was later misspelt in Italian bureaucracy Ricter.
Do you think it would be somehow possible to go back to these relatives in the U.S.? I live in Italy, and my family is still living in this town in the south: Rionero in Vulture.
Thank you for your help.
Kind regards
Anthony
Do you think it would be somehow possible to go back to these relatives in the U.S.? I live in Italy, and my family is still living in this town in the south: Rionero in Vulture.
Thank you for your help.
Kind regards
Anthony
Hello Anthony , i don't quite understand your question , however it is possible to research for relatives in a number of ways , if that is what you mean , for free in a general sense ie: phone books and writing letters or Births , Deaths and Marriage records in the particular country.I am not an expert , so i stumble along using my own common sense . I was able to trace one branch of my family for free through Church records held and collected by a well known "religious" organisation back to 1650's .T search and be able to print actual documents i think paying a Genealogy site may be the go . If i can help you please ask , kind regards Colleen .
Anthony , i'm sure you know that Richter is a name of German origin . Reaching out to our family however far away seems to be a shared human need . For myself the need to search for my uncle Des was spontaneous but strong , i had only seen photo's of him . Colleen .
Charmaine Olinsky Howard
Recruit
- 1
- Dec 31, 2011
My father, Jacob (Jack) Olinsky was with the S.A..A.F. 31 Heavy Bomber Squadron as an air mechanic. He kept a sort of diary...not too detailed and not daily. If anyone is interested in his notes, contact me. He was stationed in Foggia.
Hello Charmaine , my uncle Des arrived in Celone , Foggia on 2nd October 1944 and died in an aircrash of KH154 , SAAF , near R'ora in the Po Valley on the 12th October 1944 , thankyou for offering help , kind regards Colleen.
