The 489th Bombardment Squadron on Corsica

1. 489th BS Insignia from B-25 at MAAM, 2. 340th BG Insignia from Q. Kaiser's A2 flight jacket (1944), 3. NASA space shuttle photo of Corsica, 4. 12th Air Force patch, 5. U.S. Army Air Corps Patch .

Miscellaneous Photographs by Quentin Kaiser of the 489th Bomb Squadron,
1944-1945.

Photos of Quen Kaiser in civilian dress for the possibility that fake IDs might need to be made in the event of being shot down behind enemy lines.


I see in my mission record I flew mission number 24 to Cannes, France on August 12, 1944. It is noted that the target was coastal guns but that we did not drop our bombs. Mission number 25 is on September 10, two days before my 23rd birthday. D-Day Southern France was on August 15th. As I remember it, I flew the Cannes mission with a slight cold and also went swimnming where the Alesani River flows into the sea when I returned. I developed an earache and went on sick call and was grounded. I dimly recall sick call at the squadron but think I was sent to the hospital for treatment. The doctor really reamed me out and I wondered why because I felt bad enough as it was. He grumbled about the difficulty of maintaining healthy flight crews. I later supposed he had been told to have all crews ready for the invasion but, of course, he did not tell me that. I don't remember why there is a gap of a month but I sure did not fly during that period. I think I would have remembered an earache that lasted that long.

On D-Day the 489th's target was the bridge at Avignon. I recall we lost three B25s that day. Several Days later we were surprised to have four fellows come back to the squadron in civilian clothes. We talked to them but we were not allowed to question them about how they got back from behind enemy lines. Around that time all flight personnel had their pictures taken in civilian clothes and we were given these small, square pictures so the underground people could make passes for us to get through enemy checkpoints. We always carried escape kits on missions. These were distributed along with our parachutes and also collected after each mission. We carried them in the pockets in our flight suits which were below the knee. The escape kits contained cloth maps of the area along with first aid items and candy bars. I seem to remember there also being a pin which said "Je suis Americain." I am not sure but I think the pictures were taken after D-Day and I don't remember how we carried them because the escape kits were in sealed cloth bags and we could not open them. I have wondered if the pictures were printed on German photographic paper. The ones I have are not marked Eastman Kodak.”

Quentin Kaiser resting over two 50-caliber machine guns in the tail of a B-25J Mitchell.

Here's my dad resting over the two barrels of the tail gunner's 50-caliber machine guns in the tail of a B-25J Mitchell.

Photo dated January, 1944. My mom and dad, not yet engaged, before my dad left for Corsica.

“I am pretty sure this picture of me and mom was taken in December of 1943 after I finished gunnery school. That is why the gunner's wings are plainly evident. I would have been a corporal then. Of course, it could have been in April (1944) when we were engaged but then I think a left hand would be more evident.”

The bombed and submerged Italian Cruiser Taranto.

Here's a picture of the Italian Cruiser Taranto sunk by the 489th bomb squadron. My father has this photograph in his collection but he didn't take it. I am dubious however because Marcello Biava says the following about this photo: “This is the RN Gorizia at the end of the war in La Spezia.”

'Catch-22' Yossarian namesake, Yohannan obituary.