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19 April 1945

Avisio Viaduct and Railroad Diversion, Italy

The Avisio Viaduct, located approximately six miles north of Verona, is one of the vital links in the Bronner railway line. It was frequently visited by Groups of the Fifteenth Air Force and made inoperative on several occasions. Notwithstanding this, the enemy by the ingenious use of pre-fabricated spans was able to remedy the damage and continued to funnel traffic through the Bronner Pass at night. To make interdiction of all railway lines feeding into the Bronner absolute and complete, the Air Force assigned several Groups to destroy the Avision Viaduct. The 461st Group participated in this operation.

The field order called for a maximum effort of thirty six aircraft; the Group supplied thirty nine aircraft. Major Thackston led the Group formation. Haze partly obscured the target but good bombing results were obtained. The patter fell across the Viaduct and continued to a point one thousand feet west of the aiming point. Air Force scored the mission at 40.3 per cent. Flak was moderate at the target but not very accurate for not a single plane sustained damage. The Luftwaffe was out in force. Both FW-190s and Me109s were soon in comparatively large numbers in the vicinity of Lake Garda. Enemy fighters, however, did not engage the Group formation.

Below is the "poop sheet" for the mission showing the formation of the B-24s and all relevant mission information. It illustrates the extensive planning and documentation for a single mission.

PLAN

DATE: 19 APRIL1945

AVISIO VIADUCT, ITALY

MISSION: 217

“C” BOX 764-765TH

“A” BOX 765TH (SAMSON)

“B” BOX 764TH (PHILLIP)

11. YOUNG 10 J

11. TRAETTA (THACKSTON) 30 K A & C CHNL

11. CRUMBO 6 F

12. CARLILE 9 I

12. WHALEN (GRAY) 36 Q B CHNL

12. SARGENT 2 B

13. BOOZER 1 A

13. VLADYKA 34 O C CHANNEL

13. WOLFF 15 O

21. ARNOLT 14 N A CHNL

21. HAYES 35 P A CHNL

21. TETZLAFF 7 G A CHNL

22. FRATTONE 31 L

22. STEGEMAN 27 H B CHNL

22. PETTY 11 K

23. STAPLES 32 M

23. BREWSTER 38 S C CHNL

23. ALEXANDER 5 E

31. BARAN 23 D

31. MILLER 24 E B CHNL

31. TODD 17 Q

SPARE PFF 18 R

SPARE REG 12 L

“F” BOX 766-767TH

“D” BOX 767TH (TOOLCASE)

“E” BOX 766TH (WELLDONE)

11. FERNSTEN 41 B

11. BOYER 76 Q

11. WEIMANN 56 Q

12. COATES 48 I

12. CLARK 69 J

12. FALKNER 47 H

13. BARNHART 40 A

13. HARRISON 64 E

13. CURTIS 55 P

21. BONTEMPO 46 G A CHNL

21. HUCHZERMEIER 77 R

21. GUYTON 44 E A CHNL

22. CARD 65 F

22. CAMERON 63 D

22. MC KEE 51 L

23. YAUGER 60 A

23. HANSEN 61 B

23. RIDENOUR 49 J

31. WITEK 68 I

31. HETTINGER 74 O

31. COURTNEY 54 O

RADIO CHECK: 06:36

START ENGINES: A BOX 06:44 B BOX 06:46 C BOX 06:48 D BOX 06:50 E BOX 06:52

F BOX 06:54

FIRST SHIP TAXI: 06:57          FIRST SHIP OFF: 07:05

ASSEMBLED OVER LAVELLO: ALTITUDE 10,000’  DEPART LAVELLO: 08:33

DEPART BOVINO: ALT 10,000’ TIME 08:42

ESCORT: 50 P-38’S  TIME: 10:57  OVER SACNICO FOR P-T-W

LAVELLO TO BOVINO H 303 DIST 23 TIME 08:42 ALT 10,000’

BOVINO TO (KP) PISTOIA H 313 DIST 250 TIME 10:17 ALT 20,000’ 10:16

(KP) PISTOIA TO TP #1 CREMONA H 337 DIST 81 TIME 10:45 ALT: CLIMB 24,000’

TP #1 CREMONA TO TP #2 SARNICO H 359 DIST 31 TIME 10:56 ALT CLIMB 24,000’

TP #2 SARNICO TO TP #3 S. LANDRO H 34 DIST 66 TIME 11:19 ALT 24,000’

TP #3 S. LANDRO TO (IP) S. VALPURGA H 122 DIST 11 TIME 11:22 ALT 24,000’

(IP) S. VALPURGA TO TARGET H 176 DIST 25 TIME 11:30 ALT 24,000’ 11:28

RALLY: SHARP RIGHT

TARGET TO TP #4 DESENZANO H 214 DIST 46 TIME 11:42 ALT DOWN 20,000’

TP #4 DESENZANO TO KP PISTOIA H 175 DIST 93 TIME 12:08 ALT 20,000’

KP PISTOIA TO BASE H 135 DIST 269 TIME 13:36 ALT DOWN 5,000’

LANDING: 2700’

RADIO:     BOMBER COMMAND 4885 KC     US TOWERS 6440 KC

           “A” CHANNEL VHF BIG FENCE, FIGHTER-BOMBER, WEATHER SHIP

           “B” CHANNEL VHF 461ST BOMB GROUP

           “C” CHANNEL VHF 49TH BOMB WING

           “D” CHANNEL VHF DITCHING AND EMERGENCY OVER WATER

BOMBER CALL SIGNS: 461ST MENTOR 1  451ST MENTOR 2  484TH MENTOR 3

RECALL SIGN: SAILFISH

FIGHTER CALL SIGNS: PLAYFAIR

WEATHER SHIP CALL SIGNS: (OUT) PUSSCAT 1  (BACK) PUSSCAT 2

VISUAL SIGNALS: RED-RED ABANDON PRIMARY RED-YELLOW CLIMB

YELLOW-YELLOW LEVEL OFF GREEN-YALLOW LET DOWN

AIRSPEEDS: 160 CLIMB, 160 CRUISE, 170 LET DOWN

INTERVALOMETER SETTING: 20 ft. (VISUAL ONLY)

GAS LOAD 2700, OXYGEN FULL, AMMO FULL, BOMBS 9-500 RDX .1 NOSE NON DELAY

TAILS

TOWER FLARES: GREEN – START ENGINES, YELLOW – STAND BY SHIP, RED – STAND

BY SQDN OPNS

ALTERNATE FIELDS: ROSIGNANO, DIFERNO, IESI

GROUP LEADER: MAJOR THACKSTON IN SHIP NUMBER 30 K

DEPUTY GROUP LEADER: CAPTAIN GRAY IN SHIP NUMBER 36 Q

ORDER OF FLIGHT: 461st – 451st – 484th

ALTERNATE TARGETS

3. (IP) DESENZANO TARGET VERONA/PARONA R/R BRIDGE H 90 ALT 24,000’ RALLY:

SHARP RIGHT

4. (IP) S. LEONARDO TARGET BRESSANONE R/R BRIDGE H 116 ALT 24,000’ RALLY:

SLIGHT RIGHT

5. (IP) MERANO TARGET VIPITENO R/R BRIDGE H 41 ALT 24,000’ RALLY: SHARP LEFT

*** ALL GROUPS WILL BE THE SAME ALTITUDE ON ALTERNATE TARGETS ***

WING KEY POINT TIMES       CALL SIGNS:    

5TH     NONE                 HOTIRON         RUSSIAN RECOGNITION SIGNALS

47th  1032-1042            BREWER          BASIC: ROCK WINGS

49TH  1017-1027            MENTOR          SECONDARY: GREEN FLARE

55TH  NONE                 ENCORE

304th NONE                 SCHOOLFRIEND

***** NO TARGETS EXCEPT THOSE ON THIS FLIGHT PLAN WILL BE BOMBED. *****
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