George Parris

Memoirs of Foggia George Parris

This is the third book in the series Memoirs of Foggia. The first book covered the pre-war years. The second book covered 1942 and early 1943, which includes stateside training and the battles of North Africa. At the end of book 2, the 99th Bomb Group had just been formed in Tunisia and transferred to Tortorella airfield near Foggia, Italy. The two main protagonists Roy C. Parris and Robert A, Duffy were both in the bomb group. In this book which picks up in December 1943, we cover one of the deadliest parts of the war for this bomb group: December 1943-September 1944. During this period, they faced the Luftwaffe over German, Austria and Romania as they attacked the airplane and ball bearing factories that were out of range of the 8th Airforce and took on the critical reduction of the Ploesti petroleum refining complex. They also provided tactical support to the advance of the Soviet Union into Eastern Europe. We see the progress of this personal lives and romances. To put all this into context, particular effort is made in this book to explain the importance, difficulties and risks of these missions. Why was Ploesti so important? I go into substantial detail regarding the attack and defense of the B-17 which is referred to in many books but never explained. I follow the progress of the 8th and 15th Air Forces as they slowly and painfully attrit the Luftwaffe in 1944. Again, these stories are as historically accurate as I can make them. Where is elaborate dialogue or events, I clearly identify the fabrication and speculation and explain why. A large part of this book focuses on the general aspects of the war which is forms the essential context for the human stories, which reemerge in the next book. 1944 was clearly the transition year in which American material productivity came to fruition in experienced military hands. The first thoughts of what will happen after we win come to the surface and the competing interests of the Allies start to appear.