340th Bomb Group History

340th Bombardment Group History

340th BG Patch

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories

November 11, 1943 Mission to Berat Kucove Aerodrome, Albania

Squadron War Diary

486th Not assigned to this mission

487th Most of the men in the Squadron never tire of watching the airplanes takeoff and land. There is always a fascination about them. But this morning's formation was a sight to behold. Some 48 planes of the 340th joined with other B-25's to make a total of about 130 B-25's in the air at one time. They roared over the field in a great cloud and rendezvoused with 60 or 70 fighters over Lecce. The target for this mass of planes was Athens/Tatoi A/D, but because of weather they attacked the alternate target, the A/D at Berut Kucode, Albania. They were over the target at 0950, and dropped clusters of 20 lb frag bombs. They covered the field, our 11 planes dropping theirs on the runway and to the right of it. Some fires were started. The frag bombs were a new experience, and a hazardous one, since they fell out of the bomb bays like pieces of paper, endangering the planes behind. Lt. Emslie's plane got a hole in the tail by one of the cluster rods. A/A was intense and accurate, but only one plane was reported to be holed. All returned safely. This was the 487th's first raid in the Balkans, and was the 50th raid for Lt. Cerrutti....

488th Mission to Tatoi (Athens), Greece. Did not drop bombs although some boxes of the other squadrons did bomb alternate targets. Heavy cloud cover.

489th Thirteen planes bombed the airfield at Berat, Albania. An excellent pattern was achieved with direct hits scored on the runway. The crews observed four P-38's attack and shoot down an ME 109, while another ME 109 came within 400 yards of our formation, coming from below and behind. Six of our planes shot at it and observed it to be smoking. There was much secrecy in the planning of this mission, as it involved strategic bombing in conjunction with planes with the 321st and 12th Groups. This was to have been one of the biggest raids in which this Group had participated.

Target in 1943

Target Today

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Squadron	War Diary
486th	Not assigned to this mission
487th	Most of the men in the Squadron never tire of watching the airplanes takeoff and land. There is always a fascination about them. But this morning's formation was a sight to behold. Some 48 planes of the 340th joined with other B-25's to make a total of about 130 B-25's in the air at one time. They roared over the field in a great cloud and rendezvoused with 60 or 70 fighters over Lecce. The target for this mass of planes was Athens/Tatoi A/D, but because of weather they attacked the alternate target, the A/D at Berut Kucode, Albania. They were over the target at 0950, and dropped clusters of 20 lb frag bombs. They covered the field, our 11 planes dropping theirs on the runway and to the right of it. Some fires were started. The frag bombs were a new experience, and a hazardous one, since they fell out of the bomb bays like pieces of paper, endangering the planes behind. Lt. Emslie's plane got a hole in the tail by one of the cluster rods. A/A was intense and accurate, but only one plane was reported to be holed. All returned safely. This was the 487th's first raid in the Balkans, and was the 50th raid for Lt. Cerrutti....
488th	Mission to Tatoi (Athens), Greece. Did not drop bombs although some boxes of the other squadrons did bomb alternate targets. Heavy cloud cover.
489th	Thirteen planes bombed the airfield at Berat, Albania. An excellent pattern was achieved with direct hits scored on the runway. The crews observed four P-38's attack and shoot down an ME 109, while another ME 109 came within 400 yards of our formation, coming from below and behind. Six of our planes shot at it and observed it to be smoking. There was much secrecy in the planning of this mission, as it involved strategic bombing in conjunction with planes with the 321st and 12th Groups. This was to have been one of the biggest raids in which this Group had participated.

Crew Lists and Mission Reports

Crew List 488th

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories