15th Air Force patch

15th Air Force patch, original WW2, excellent condition.

As a strategic air force, the 15th USAAF primarily carried out bombing operations on countries occupied or allied to Nazi Germany. Its bases being mostly located in southern Italy, it operates in the following countries: Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary. Its objectives are strategic:

-Oil refineries (notably Ploiești in Romania, a target very feared by the aviators of the 15th USAAF)

-Factories

-Training yards

-Aerodromes

-Ports

-Submarine bases

August 1, 1943: Operation Tidal Wave on Ploiești in Romania[ref. necessary].

November 2, 1943: Bombing of industrial installations in Wiener Neustadt, notably the Raxwerke. The so-called “Serbenhalle” factory is not affected.

November 24, 1943: bombing of the Toulon naval base

January 27, 1944: bombing of Montpellier (Montpellier-Fréjorgues airfield)

February 4, 1944: bombing of the Toulon naval base

March 11, 1944: bombing of the Toulon naval base, base of the 29th Unterseeboot flotilla

April 29, 1944: bombing of the Toulon naval base

April 30, 1944: bombing of the Allessandria marshalling yard in Italy

May 4, 1944: bombing of the Ploiești marshalling yard in Romania

May 6, 1944: bombing of the Brașov marshalling yard in Romania

May 10, 1944: bombing of the Messerschmitt factories in Wiener-Neustadt in Austria as well as adjacent airfields2

May 18, 1944: bombing of the Ploiești oil refineries in Romania and the Belgrade railway complex in Yugoslavia3

May 26, 1944: bombing of Chambéry, Grenoble, Lyon, St Étienne, Nice and Pont du Var (sorting yards and railway installations).

May 27, 1944: bombing of Montpellier (Montpellier-Fréjorgues aerodrome), Nîmes (de Courbessac), Salon-de-Provence (aerodrome), Marseille (St Charles marshalling yard), and Avignon les Rotondes, (sorting yard) .

June 2, 1944: First of Operation Frantic's missions, 130 B-17s and 70 P-51s bomb Debrecen in Hungary and land on a Soviet base in Ukraine

June 25, 1944: bombing of Sète (sorting yard), Balaruc (oil refineries), Frontignan (oil refineries)

July 5, 1944: bombing of Montpellier (sorting station), Béziers (sorting station), Toulon (naval base).

July 11, 1944: bombing of the Toulon naval base

July 12, 1944: bombing of Nîmes (railway station)

August 6, 1944: bombing of the bridges and railways of Avignon and Tarascon

August 6, 1944: bombing of the Toulon naval base

August 6, 1944: bombing of Miramas (sorting yard)

…

August 16, 1944: bombing of Saint-Vallier (railway viaduct)

August 16, 1944: bombing of Pont-de-l'Isère (railway viaduct)

August 16, 1944: bombing of Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny (railway viaduct)

August 16, 1944: bombing of Saint-Martin-le-Vinoux (railway viaduct)

…

May 8, 1945: end of the war in Europe and therefore end of operations. Transport, supply and training missions.