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Mediterranean Sweep
The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
Mediterranean Sweep
The USAAF in the Italian Campaign
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Description
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of the coming invasion of northwest Europe, with many of the best units from the North African and Sicilian campaigns withdrawn to prepare for the new front, while those units that remained had a lower priority for replacements of men and material.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.
Table of Contents
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
Product details
Published | 13 Mar 2025 |
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Format | Ebook (PDF) |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 320 |
ISBN | 9781472863423 |
Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
Illustrations | 16-page black and white plate section |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Mediterranean Sweep offers a rare and valuable look at one of the least appreciated aspects of the US Army Air Forces' contribution to victory in World War II.
Barrett Tillman, author of 'When the Shooting Stopped'
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Mediterranean Sweep is a bold attempt to raise the consciousness of readers and historians to this epic air campaign.
Colonel Ralph Wetterhahn, USAF (Ret.)
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Cleaver is an established name in aviation history and never fails to deliver a good read.
History of War

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