CREW OF A HEAVY BOMBER before taking off on a mission. During the first few months after the landings, the Allied air forces were handicapped in their operations from North African bases through lack of suitable airfields. The lack of all-weather facilities such as hard-surfaced runways, taxiways, and hard-stands was particularly serious in the rainy winter season of 1942–43. In the area from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the Tunisian border, there were only four air bases with any kind of hard-surfaced runways: Port-Lyautey, north of Casablanca; Tafaraoui, near Oran; Maison Blanche at Algiers; and the Bone airfield on the coast near the Tunisian border. (B-24.)
ALGERIA
DIGGING OUT A MIRED FLYING FORTRESS from the mud of a North African bomber base.
ITALY
BOMBING THE RAILROAD YARDS IN ROME on 19 July 1943. Note bombs bursting in railroad area at top of picture. More than 500 heavy and medium bombers from bases in North Africa took part in the first bombing of Rome. The heavy bombers concentrated on the yards in the city and suburbs while the medium bombers attacked airfields on the outskirts. Every precaution was taken to bomb only targets of military significance. The crews had been especially selected and carefully briefed and trained for this mission, with the result that few bombs fell outside the target area.
IRAN