by Salvo Fagone
‘USAAF bombs on Italy’ is the third book by this author that I have read (and viewed), continuing the interesting range of photos that his first two books featured. ‘USAAF bombs on Italy’ tells the story of the American bombing raids, specifically on Italy. It starts out by telling how the US got involved in the war and how they entered the African and European theatre of war.
With their mighty production force, the US quickly raised a huge potential in war machines, among which the bombers used in the various campaigns.
The book takes us from Operation Torch in Northern Africa to Operation Husky (the invasion and liberation of Sicily) towards the main thrust towards Germany via the Italian peninsula. Although the allied forces only reached Rome in June 1944, the bombing raids stretched all the way north towards the Brenner Pass and Austria long before that.
Although most (black-and-white) photos cover bombing raids and reconnaissance photos of the results, the text parts of the book also cover the various operations on the ground, like the landings at Anzio, the battle for Salerno, the battle for Montecassino, and others. This provides good background information to the many photos.
The many photos not only show the bombing results but also include pictures of the ground forces, the people involved, the aircraft used, and the places where the battles raged.
So, is there no criticism?
Just a little bit. Not hugely important, but it is the translation from Italian. A good effort, and certainly not bad, but there are quite a few ‘Latinisms’, showing that English is not the translator’s daily language. And my pet peeve, ‘ aircrafts’, showed up too.
No show stopper and all in all it is a welcome addition to my library of WW2 books with many interesting and new (to me) photos lifted from the various war libraries. Well worth buying !
Salvone’s other books are ‘Road to Rome‘ (also available in English) and ‘Ricognitori su Husky‘ about the aerial reconnaissance over Sicily in 1943.
