Tuskegee Airmen in Italy, 1945

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This photo, taken in March 1945 in Ramitelli, Italy (near Naples), shows an escape kit containing cyanide capsules being issued to a member of the 332nd Army Air Force Fighter Group, the "Tuskegee Airmen." In the event of capture by the Nazis in Yugoslavia, the airman was expected to take his own life. You can see the man on the right is armed with an M1911A1 .45 automatic in his shoulder holster, with a two-clip pouch on the strap.

The photographer was Toni Frissell who took hundreds of photos of the Tuskegee Airmen during that period, the only known photos of the group on duty in Europe.

The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 700 missions and never lost a bomber to enemy aircraft. They earned more than 744 Air Medals and Clusters, more than 100 Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, 8 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, and a Legion of Merit. The group was commanded by Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr, who later became the first three-star general in the Air Corps.

Today in WW II: 8 Feb 1940 Germans establish the first large Jewish ghetto in Poland in the city of Lodz. More ↓

8 Feb 1941 US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act [265 to 165].
8 Feb 1942 Battle of Sarimbun Beach begins, the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore.
8 Feb 1942 Japanese Offensive in Burma begins [8 Feb-2 May].
8 Feb 1945 Battle of the Reichswald: British and Canadian forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery begin Operation Veritable [8 Feb-11 Mar].
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.