340th Bomb Group History

340th Bombardment Group History

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories

September 23, 1944 Mission to Cruiser Taranto in La Spezia Harbor

Squadron War Diary

340th HQ Diary To prevent Jerry from utilizing the light Italian cruiser Taranto as a block to the port of La Spezia an 18-plane mission was dispatched to bomb and sink same where it sat in La Spezia harbor. The three boxes laid perfect compact patterns directly on the ship causing it to sink where it stood. Two other targets for the day were more rail bridges but both were missed. Bad weather and interrupted visibility was given as the attributing factor for these misses.

486th Not assigned to this mission

487th Not assigned to this mission.

488th The 488th led a mission over the Cruiser Taranto in La Spezia Harbor, Italy. Each plane carried 6 x 1000# semi-armor piercing bombs. The first box laid its bombs right through the middle of the ship, the second box right across the bow and the third box (489th) crossed the stern. Sgt. Zoolalian broke his thumb throwing out chaff.

489th Flew this mission, but the September 1944 diary is missing.

Target in 1944

Target Today

Squadron	War Diary
340th HQ Diary	To prevent Jerry from utilizing the light Italian cruiser Taranto as a block to the port of La Spezia an 18-plane mission was dispatched to bomb and sink same where it sat in La Spezia harbor. The three boxes laid perfect compact patterns directly on the ship causing it to sink where it stood. Two other targets for the day were more rail bridges but both were missed. Bad weather and interrupted visibility was given as the attributing factor for these misses.
486th	Not assigned to this mission
487th	Not assigned to this mission.
488th	The 488th led a mission over the Cruiser Taranto in La Spezia Harbor, Italy. Each plane carried 6 x 1000# semi-armor piercing bombs. The first box laid its bombs right through the middle of the ship, the second box right across the bow and the third box (489th) crossed the stern. Sgt. Zoolalian broke his thumb throwing out chaff.
489th	Flew this mission, but the September 1944 diary is missing.

Crew Lists and Mission Reports

On the crew list for the 488th Bomb Squadron below, the bombardier
in plane 8W is listed as 1st Lt. J. Heller. This is Joseph Heller, the
author of the novel Catch-22.

Presidental Citation Awarded to the 340th Bombardment Group for this Mission

488th Squadron


489th Squadron

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories