Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
Filled with personal accounts of the action, this book details the USAAF's tactical and strategic campaigns in the skies over Italy in World War II.

With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.

Despite these difficulties, the air war in the Italian campaign is a study in the successful application of tactical air power. Mediterranean Sweep describes how USAAF forces, alongside Free French, Italian Co-Belligerent, British and Commonwealth units, and even a squadron of the Brazilian Air Force, took the war to the Axis in both the fighter-bomber war and Operation Bingo, the successful bombing campaign to withhold supplies from the German forces fighting on the Gothic Line.

Building on the story of the USAAF in North Africa and over Sicily told in his previous work Turning The Tide, renowned aviation expert Tom Cleaver uses a wide range of first-hand accounts from American, Allied, German, and Italian pilots and other aircrew to bring to life the bitter struggle in the skies over Italy from mid-1943 through to the end of World War II.

1145317449
Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
Filled with personal accounts of the action, this book details the USAAF's tactical and strategic campaigns in the skies over Italy in World War II.

With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.

Despite these difficulties, the air war in the Italian campaign is a study in the successful application of tactical air power. Mediterranean Sweep describes how USAAF forces, alongside Free French, Italian Co-Belligerent, British and Commonwealth units, and even a squadron of the Brazilian Air Force, took the war to the Axis in both the fighter-bomber war and Operation Bingo, the successful bombing campaign to withhold supplies from the German forces fighting on the Gothic Line.

Building on the story of the USAAF in North Africa and over Sicily told in his previous work Turning The Tide, renowned aviation expert Tom Cleaver uses a wide range of first-hand accounts from American, Allied, German, and Italian pilots and other aircrew to bring to life the bitter struggle in the skies over Italy from mid-1943 through to the end of World War II.

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Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign

Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign

Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Hardcover

$32.00 
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Overview

Filled with personal accounts of the action, this book details the USAAF's tactical and strategic campaigns in the skies over Italy in World War II.

With the defeat of the Germans and Italians on Sicily in mid-July 1943, the focus of the war in the air shifted toward the battle for the Italian mainland itself. This campaign took place in the context of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.

Despite these difficulties, the air war in the Italian campaign is a study in the successful application of tactical air power. Mediterranean Sweep describes how USAAF forces, alongside Free French, Italian Co-Belligerent, British and Commonwealth units, and even a squadron of the Brazilian Air Force, took the war to the Axis in both the fighter-bomber war and Operation Bingo, the successful bombing campaign to withhold supplies from the German forces fighting on the Gothic Line.

Building on the story of the USAAF in North Africa and over Sicily told in his previous work Turning The Tide, renowned aviation expert Tom Cleaver uses a wide range of first-hand accounts from American, Allied, German, and Italian pilots and other aircrew to bring to life the bitter struggle in the skies over Italy from mid-1943 through to the end of World War II.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781472863454
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 03/11/2025
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has been a published writer for the past 40 years, with his most recent work being the best-selling Osprey titles MiG Alley (2019), I Will Run Wild (2020), Under the Southern Cross (2021), The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club (2021), Going Downtown (2022), The Cactus Air Force (2022) alongside the late Eric Hammel, and most recently Clean Sweep (2023). Tom served in the US Navy in Vietnam and currently lives in Encino, California.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Maps

Foreword by Colonel USAF (Ret.) Ralph Wetterhahn

Author Preface

Chapter One: Opening Bell

Chapter Two: Italy Surrenders

Chapter Three: The Near Disaster of Operation Avalanche

Chapter Four: Kesselring's Toll

Chapter Five: Anzio – The Lost Opportunity

Chapter Six: “USS Corsica”

Chapter Seven: The Colossal Mistake

Chapter Eight: Pursuing The Wehrmacht

Chapter Nine: Those Little Black Flowers That Grow in The Sky

Chapter Ten: The Italian Air Forces

Chapter Eleven: Victory in Italy

Bibliography

Glossary

Index

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