The 489th Bombardment Squadron in Corsica

1. 489th BS Insignia from B-25 at MAAM, 2. 340th BG Insignia from Q. Kaiser's A2 flight jacket (1944), 3. NASA space shuttle photo of Corsica, 4. 12th Air Force patch, 5. U.S. Army Air Corps Patch .


The Airfield and Base at Alesani, Page 1

Aerial photograph of the airfield at Alesani, Corsica (courtesy of Dominique Taddei).
The airfield and base at Alesani, Corsica was constructed by the allies very early in 1944 and was occupied by the 340th Bombardment Group from mid-April of 1944 until late-April of 1945. The 340th Bombardment Group consisted of the 486th, 487th, 488th and 489th Bombardment Squadrons. The airfield which ran north-south was located 30 miles south of Bastia on the eastern coast of Corsica at 42 degrees 16' 40" N latitude and 9 degrees 33' 15" E longitude at an elevation of 30 feet. A lighthouse situated approximately 1 mile SW of the airfield provided a good landmark. The landing strip was 1825 yards long and included a 175 yard pierced steel plank runway, the remainder compacted earth. There were four pierced steel warm-up aprons connected by taxi-track to the prepared strip. East and west of the prepared strip were 140 hard standings for the aircraft connected by taxi-track to either end of the landing strip. The control tower was located on the west side of the center of the prepared strip. Two huts and two portable barracks housed the administration and operations sections. The personnel billeted in tents. There was First Aid at the airfield and a hospital at Cervione, 4 miles to the north.


Terrain d'Alesani (courtesy of Dominique Taddei).


340th Bombardment Group Sign at Alesani, Corsica (courtesy of Dana Craig).
I'll bet Lt. Johnny Moyer and his copilot never imagined they'd be appearing on the internet one day. Dana Craig who flew in a crew with these guys in the 486th Bombardment Squadron took this picture around June of 1944 right after a mission.

489th Bombardment Squadron Sign at Alesani, Corsica.
My dad by the sign for the 489th Bombardment Squadron tent camp.

Operations board where the target photos and bombing results were posted. Sgt. who typed the operations reports.
Left photo: My dad standing by the operations board where mission photos and bombing accuracy reports (box scores) were posted. Right photo: This is one of the operations sergeants who typed the mission reports in the 489th operations shack. I compared this picture with those of the operations sergeants shown in the 489th Bomb Squadron Book. I'm not positive but I think this must be staff sgt. Joe V. Perez from San Antonio, Texas.

Check out Nick Webster's pictures of Corsica today.

Go on to The Airfield and Base at Alesani, Page 2.