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Table Of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Stateside to Grottaglie, Italy: May '43 - December '43
Chapter 2: Baptism of War: January '44 - March '44   
Chapter 3: Maximum Effort: April '44 - May '44
Chapter 4: Summer: June '44 - August '44                    
Chapter 5: Fall: September '44 - December '44
Chapter 6: Winter: January '45 - March '45
Chapter 7: Spring: April '45 - May '45
Chapter 8: Home... And Afterwards
Epilogue
Annex One: Poems
Annex Two: War Diaries
Appendix A:  The Aircraft of the 449th
Appendix B:  Awards and Decorations
Appendix C:  Aircraft and Personnel Losses
Appendix D: The 15th Air Force (1943-1945)
Glossary
Index

"Maximum Effort” is the third volume published by the 449th Bomb Group Association dedicated to preserving the history of the 449th Bomb Group in World War II. The 449th -- equipped with B-24 Liberator bombers -- operated as a part of the 15th Air Force from their base at Grottaglie in southern Italy from January 1944 through May 1945. During this period the 449th flew 254 combat missions against axis targets in central and eastern Europe. Targets included Ploesti, Regensburg, Munich, Vienna, Bucharest, Budapest, Wiener-Neustadt, and many others. Over the course of these missions the 449th lost more than 100 aircraft. Here is more of the story of the 449th, mostly as told by the veterans themselves through their own words and photographs. "Maximum Effort" captures the feel of what it was like to be a part of the 449th Bomb Group from the early days of training in the States, to the movement overseas to Grottaglie, through the period of combat operations during 1944 and 1945, and then the return home after the war. The stories and photographs come from members of both the ground echelon and the air echelon, thus capturing the complete spectrum of group operations. Book IV concludes with an attempt to place the contributions of the 449th into a broader perspective, and at the same time to capture some of the follow-on events in the lives of the veterans of the 449th in the years after the war. The appendices contain summary histories of the B-24s of the 449th, a summary of the losses experienced, an update to the list of the awards and decorations received by the men of the 449th, and an overall summary of 15th Air Force operations.

[Published by The 449th Bomb Group Association]

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