SECOND HAND BOOKS

804765/91 - BOOMERANG! STORY OF THE 320TH BOMBARDMENT GROUP IN WORLD WAR II

Written, Edited and Published by Victor C Tannehill

Air crews flew their B-26s across the South Atlantic route to Oran.

Moving forward to desert airstrips, the 320th began combat operations with the 42nd Bomb Wing, Twelfth Air Force, in April, 1943. Their yellow tail-numbered Marauders flew missions against shipping and ground installations until German and Italian troops surrendered North Africa in May.

In June the 320th assisted in the reduction of the mid-Med islands of Pantelleria and Lampedusa and then, in July, supported the U.S. Seventh Army landings on Sicily. The group bombed marshalling yards, bridges, airfields, road junctions, viaducts, harbors, fuel dumps and defensive positions in Southern Italy prior to Fifth Army landings at Salerno in September.

Shifting to Decimomannu airbase on Sardinia in November, the 320th continued to send out missions supporting Allied ground forces in Italy. The lowest loss rate per sortie ratio of any B-26 unit in WWII, earned them their nickname "Boomerangs".

The group supported Fifth Army's landings at Anzio in January, 1944. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for its mission May 12, 1944,  when its B-26s made an accurate low-level attack on German troops and Panzers near Fondi.

Marauders of the 320th carried out pre-invasion stikes against harbors, bridges, railways, roads and defensive positions along the Riviera coast prior to the Allied DRAGOON landings in Southern France August 15, 1944.

After moving to Alto, Corsica, in September, the group put up long interdictory missions to targets in the Po Valley and in far northeastern Italy.

Reassigned to the First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) in November, the 320th shifted to Europe. Based at Dijon and later Dole, in southeastern France, the "yellow tail" B-26s supported the French-American Sixth Army Group. The group was awarded its second DUC for a highly successful bombardment of Siegfried Line positions near Zweibrucken, Germany, on March 15, 1945.

The 320th's Marauders continued to hit tactical targets in France and Germany until V-E Day, May 8, 1945. After disarmament duties the group was returned to the U.S. and deactivated December 4, 1945.

For this unit history, Tannehill draws on Official records, group and squadron diaries, media reports and interviews with 320th veterans. The book is filled with photographs--nearly 500 of them, most never before published--of people, places and planes. Maps, charts, artwork and in-depth "sidebar" stories are also included. "Boomerang" measures 8 1/2" x 11" x 3/4", hardbound with "yearbook-style" covers in color.

Hardback, looks to be a really nice clean copy throughout.