The Rover Boys in the Balkans
After high school in 1943 Henry Wurthmann II joined the USAAF. As Cpl Wurthmann, a right waist gunner or armorer gunner, he saw action in a North American Aviation production block number B-24G-16-NT 'Liberator' in the 15th Air Force, 451st Bombardment Group (Heavy), 725th Bomb Squadron (Heavy) out of Castelluccio Airfield, Umbria, Italy (41°19′11.69″N 015°32′40.71″E). Castelluccio opened on/about 6 April 1944 and flew its last mission in June 1945.
Castelluccio the village/frazione is at 42°49′44″N 13°12′21″E in Perugia province/provinzia. It has never had more 200 inhabitants and its population dwindled to fewer than 10 in 2008.
Its altitude (1,452m/4,764') is ideal for aircraft.
The Umbria region has grown lentils for the past 3,000 years and relied on that crop until India and Canada seized the market. Now, Umbrian lentils are rare and considered "artisanal".
The nearest town/comune of any size is Norcia 42°47′36″N 13°5′38″E, 30km/19 miles away via a tortuous road, the birthplace of St. Benedict/San Benedetto of Nursia (480 – 543 or 547 AD), the founder of Western Christian monasticism. Earthquakes in 2016 destroyed the Basilica and the Benedictine monastery "and all the other churches in town".
On Wednesday 7 February 1945, during Mission number 187, part of the continuing "Allied Oil Campaign", 680 B-17s and B-24s (NOTE: A conflicting but reliable Slovak source says 739 bombers) made a successful bomb run against various oil refineries near Vienna. 34 bombers rallied with the 49th Bomb Wing (HQs Castelluccio) and split into two assault groups, RED FORCE and BLUE FORCE.
The Austrian targets were:
Floridsdorf --- Oil refinery, oil sidings.
Kagran --- Oil refinery.
Korneuburg --- Oil refinery. Assigned to RED FORCE.
Lobau --- Oil refinery.
Moosbierbaum --- Chemical works, produced 60,000 tons/year of dehydrogenated naphtha. Adjacent refinery for the oil from Zistersdorf.
Schwechat --- Oil refinery.
and
18 P-51s strafed Zeltweg Airfield, Murtal, Styria/ Steiermark, Austria and the surrounding area.
Zwölfaxing, Bruck an der Leitha, Lower Austria/Niederösterreich, Austria --- airfield.
and
Pola or Pula, Istria County/Istarska županija, Croatia --- oil storage.
10 P-38s swept the triangle formed by Zagreb, Karlovac/ Karlovačka županija, and Sisak/ Sisačko-moslavačka županija, all in Croatia.
and
Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy --- harbor and shipyard.
and
Bratislava/ Preßburg or Pressburg, Slovakia --- Port of Bratislava/Prístav Bratislava. Assigned to BLUE FORCE. On Bratislava Port alone fell 32.5 metric tons/36 US tons of bombs from an altitude of 6,500m/21,326'.
and
"several scattered targets of opportunity".
274 P-38s and P-51s provided escort (NOTE: the same Slovak source cited above says 278 fighters).
8 B-24s dropped supplies in Yugoslavia.
Other P-38s flew reconnaissance and escort operations.
Cpl Wurthmann's bomber (AAF SN 42-78463, RCL number C/61 "The Rover Boys" or "463", callsign 67, engines R-1830-65 AAF SN CP-326627 and AAF SN BP-441974 and AAF SN CP-439164 and AAF SN CP-309384) was one of them.
