US Army Air Force

Nettuno’s airstrip

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An aerial view of airstrip built by U.S. Army ahead the Nettuno’s beach shortly after the strengthening of bridgehead during Operation Shingle (landing at Anzio, January 1944). The Nettuno’s airstrip was used occasionally by Allied fighter bomber units, but above all by the ambulance aircraft for medical evacuation like the planes of 802d and 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadrons (MAETS). The first flight from the Nettuno airstrip was made on May 26, 1944, while additional holding units for air evacuation were to operate at various points, flying casualties to fixed hospitals in Naples and Caserta. Between May 26 and August 31, 1944, during the Italian Campaign, a total of 33,793 patients were evacuated by air from Fifth Army Hospitals. Throughout the Volturno and Winter Line Campaign, air evacuation flights operated from Naples and Foggia, with destination the Tunis-Bizerte area, while Hospital Ships were routed to Oran. Direct evacuation by air to the Zone of Interior began only out of Casablanca on July 3 and out of Naples on July 19, 1944. In the photo two C-47s during an operation of medical evacuation. Note the Dodge WC-54 ambulances surrounding the planes. Victor Sierra