ISCHIA

ISCHIA
I received my September copy of Traveler today. I was surprised to see “Ischia’ listed on the cover. This is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 20 miles west of Naples. I hadn’t thought of this island for over 67 years - ever since I used to fly in between this island and the Isle of Capri during our bomb run on Naples. I was a bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress. We were part of the 2nd Bomb Group, which was part of General Jimmy Doolittle’s Twelfth Air Force. I could spot the Island, down to the left, from my perch in the nose of the plane. We usually were about five miles high and indicating about 150 mph, on an easterly- inbound course, over the Bay of Naples. What I remember most about the view were the red-tiled roofs on the buildings. The little island looked very peaceful.
I was on four missions to Naples - two of the targets were shipping in the harbor area. One was the rail- marshalling yards and the other was the Capodichino airdrome. The Naples area was our roughest target area. We had our largest losses of crews and planes. The German 88 guns were very accurate. Sometimes, the black smoke from their bursting anti-aircraft shells was so thick, it looked like I could walk on it. These guns were not only shore batteries, but some 88’s were mounted on barges moored in the harbor. Besides all the flak, we had to contend with the German Me-109’s and FW- 190 fighter planes which attacked our formation. We were unescorted, because Naples (from North Africa) was beyond the range of our P-38’s.
I always hoped that I could return and view this beautiful country close-up - from ground level. My wish was realized in 1985 - 43 years later. I had been retired from C & H Sugar Co. for two years, when Marie and I went to Italy. We visited Rome; Florence; Venice; Naples and the Isle of Capri. I enjoyed flying on the Alitalia air line.
RCL - 8/9/10.