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 3


The entrance to Q. Kaiser's tent. The latrine that was too close to the tent. Quentin in front of the 488th Squadron sign.
Left picture: My dad, Quentin Kaiser, at the entrance to his tent. Middle picture: My dad with his gear by the latrine. Right picture: Quentin Kaiser by the sign for the 488th Bomb Squadron.



Quentin with camera often used on missions. 489th Squadron Insignia on opposite side of plane from noseart. Quentin manning one of his 50-Calber machine guns.
Left picture: Quen with the camera used to take photos on bombing missions. Middle picture: The 489th Bomb Squadron insignia on the side of a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. Right picture: Quen Kaiser demonstrates how to fire a 50 caliber machine gun from the waist gunner's position.



Bill Devine sporting his 50-Caliber machine gun next to B-25 9F 'Stella'. Quentin and pals happily cleaning their guns after a mission.
Left picture: Bill Devine holding a 50 caliber machine gun by B-25 9F Stella. Right picture: My dad, Quentin Kaiser and some of his pals cleaning their 50 caliber guns- the routine after every mission.



Quentin Kaiser next to sign for the 489th BS/340th BG at Alesani, Corsica. Quentin Kaiser eating a donut supplied by the American Red Cross after a mission.
Left picture: Here's my dad standing in front of the sign for the 489th bombardment squadron area at Alesani, Corsica. Right picture: Here he is eating a donut supplied by the Red Cross after a mission. "It was always lovely to get your two feet back on the ground. Nose art usually showed the number of missions and we did this with our A-2 jackets as well, as you can see in this picture. Airplane dope was at hand and we used that but it became brittle and flaked off, and that was that. At one time I also had a B-25 on the back of my jacket but that met the same fate."



A view of the 489th camp with a P-38 Lightning coming in for a landing in the background. A crude map showing the relative locations of the 489th camp, the runway and the lighthouse at Alesani, Corsica.
Left picture: A P-38 Lightning buzzing the 489th tent camp. Right: A crude map showing the relative locations of the 489th camp, the runway and the lighthouse at Alesani, Corsica (from D. Taddei).


Go on to The Airfield and Base at Alesani, Page 4.