B-24s of a Bomb Wing of USAAF’s 15th Air Force leaving Salzburg, Austria, after an air raid, December 1944. Note the different liveries of the planes: olive drab for the first two, bare metal for the other three. Victor Sierra

Leaving Salzburg

An American bomber B-24J Liberator trails smoke from interior left engine as it flies through heavy flak over Vienna. Excepting a lone air raid of Russian Pe-2s, 4 September 1942, Vienna was attacked by air only from 1944 when was reached by Allied bombers deployed on the bases of the Foggia Airfield Complex, Southern Italy. With a ring of anti-aircraft batteries set up around the city and three pairs of Flak Towers, Vienna was a very hard target for American bombers during WW2. The plane of this photo is a 451st Bombardment’s ship, 49th Bomb Wing, US Army Air Force. Based at Castelluccio Airfield, Foggia Airfield Complex, the 451st was one of the most decorated 15th Air Force’s units, but also one of the most battered: 135 B-24s lost in 216 missions.

Flight over Vienna

An American bomber B-24 Liberator, 559th Bomb Group, 304th Bomb Wing, US Army Air Force, base Giulia, Foggia Airfield Complex, Italy, spinning out of control over target area prior to crash near Vienna, Summer 1944. Victor Sierra