The eruption of Mount Vesuvius on March 22nd, 1944 caused more physical damage to the 340th bombardment group than the German air raid was to inflict two months later at Alesan Air Field on the island of Corsica. Indeed, 88 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers were covered in hot ash which burned off the fabric control surfaces and glazed the Plexiglas. Planes were tipped onto their tails from the weight of the ash. All 88 B-25s were completely totaled. Click here to see a NASA radar image of Vesuvius.
Here's what the eruption of Mount Vesuvius looked like from the city of Naples. Thousands of residents were displaced as well as the entire 340th bombardment group due to the tephra fallout. This picture is from the Time Life book "Volcano".
These B-25Ds from the 321st bombardment group passed the erupting Vesuvius on their way to Cassino. Here's the way one of the Tuskegee Airmen, P-39 Cobra pilot Joseph P. Gomer of the 301st fighter squadron/ 332nd fighter group, described what he saw after leaving his base at Salerno, Italy: "I remember taking off that day and swinging over the coast. I could see all that red lava just flowing down. A beautiful sight." (Photograph courtesy of Dominique Taddei).
The 324th Fighter Group was stationed at Cercola, Italy on the north slope of Mount Vesuvius at this time and had a different perspective of the eruption.
This is another view of Mount Vesuvius as seen by the B-25Ds of the 447th bombardment squadron/ 321st bombardment group while heading up to Cassino. (Photograph courtesy of Dominique Taddei).
Trying to dig a 340th B-25 out of the ash after the Vesuvius eruption. Notice the protective clothing worn by the soldiers. Photograph courtesy of Giuseppe Versolato and Dominique Taddei.
Here's a nice shot of B-25 6C from the 486th bombardment squadron with the erupting Mount Vesuvius in the background. Photograph courtesy of Giuseppe Versolato and Dominique Taddei.
Dana Craig of the 486th Bombardment Squadron, 340th Bombardment Group experienced the eruption of Mount Vesuvius first-hand: "I'm assuming that your March 22th date for the eruption is right. On the day prior, Vesuvius was belching smoke. It was an overcast sky with the threat of rain. About midnight, I went out of my billet to answer the call of nature. While outside, in a mild drizzle, I was hit on the head by what I thought was a small rock. Suspecting some sort of joke, I went inside for a flashlight. When I returned, the light revealed a layer of damp cinders on the ground. We knew at that time that Vesuvius was erupting. We began to feel the earth shake as though a bomb had gone off. After each quake, a few minutes would pass before the debris blown out of the crater would start to hit the ground. About daylight, the rear of our building started to cave in. We then began to see the larger rocks coming down. By this time everyone was wearing his steel helmet and heavy sheepskin jacket for protection from the falling material. I can't recall ever having breakfast that morning. It wasn't very long before we were loaded into trucks and evacuated to Naples."
The incredible amount of ash which completely totaled 88 B-25s from the four squadrons of the 340th bombardment group is clearly evident in this picture. Photograph courtesy of Giuseppe Versolato and Dominique Taddei.
Here's another view of Vesuvius and another severely damaged B-25 (7V) from the 340th bombardment group. Photograph courtesy of Giuseppe Versolato and Dominique Taddei.
Here are two planes from the 489th bombardment squadron getting peppered with flak on a mission. That's B-25D Stardust 9D on the left but this isn't the same 9D that my father, Quentin Kaiser, flew two missions in. Note that the top turret on the B-25D model was positioned much further back than the top turret on the B-25J model. There were actually four different 9Ds. The first 9D (serial# 42-53479) was lost at sea on 9-9-43 after 40 missions. The second 9D (serial# 42-32447), Stardust (above), was destroyed on 3-22-44 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius after 78 missions. The third 9D (serial# 43-32504) was damaged during the German air raid at Alesan Air Field, Corsica on 5-13-44 after 23 missions and sent back to the states. The fourth and final 9D (serial# 43-27638), Briefing Time, flew 126 missions from Alesani, Corsica until the end of the war. This last 9D was the plane my father flew 2 missions in. Photograph from Dominique Taddei.
This amazing photo comes from Dominique Taddei who got it from John Sutay, former 57th Bomb Wing Historian, who passed away on May 31, 2002. In Corsica, John Sutay was a radio ground operator in the 340th BG, 486th BS. The photo was taken above Mount Vesuvius in May 1945. The B-25J pictured, "Finito Benito Next Hirohito," was neither assigned to a BG nor flew combat missions but was based at Naples with the 12th Air Force around the end of the war.
See the account of the Mount Vesuvius eruption from the 489th Bomb Squadron Book.
Back to B-25 Mitchell Map.
Back to Page 1 of "The 489th Bombardment Squadron in Corsica".
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