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History Battle of Black Race for Liberty and Justice

Khalid Elhassan May 12, 2020 34 min

Deacons for Defense - Deacons for Defense and Justice — Black demonstrators arriving in Franklinton, Louisiana, after a two day march from Bogalusa. Face 2 Face Africa

10. Shooting Down Nazis in Italy

Flight instructor Lindwood Williams at Tuskegee Army Air Field, circa 1943. National Air and Space Museum

After distinguishing themselves in Operation Corkscrew, the men of 99^th Pursuit Squadron flew in support of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, in July of 1943. Once airfields were secured in Sicily, the black flyers relocated from North Africa to that island, then flew in support of the invasion of Italy that September. The 99^th was then tasked with providing close air support to the US 5^th Army during some of its major operations, such as the capture of Foggia and its vital airfields, and the amphibious Anzio landings.

Attached to the 79^th Fighter Group, the black flyers of the 99^th saw significant action as one of eight fighter squadrons defending the Anzio beachhead from German aerial attacks. On January 27^th to 28^th, 1944, the eight squadrons defending Anzio collectively shot down 32 German airplanes, with the 99^th claiming the highest score, with 13 kills.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.