Mediterranean Sweep: The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
Mar 2025 · Bloomsbury Publishing
Ebook
320
Pages
infoThis book will become available on March 13, 2025. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
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of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.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.
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of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.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.
About the author
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has been a published writer for the past 40 years, with his work including the best-selling Osprey titles The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club (2021), Going Downtown (2022), The Cactus Air Force (2022) alongside the late Eric Hammel, Clean Sweep (2023), and most recently Turning The Tide (2024). Tom served in the US Navy in Vietnam and currently lives in Encino, California.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
