Training and Deployment

After completing their individual flight training, the crew were ordered to Gowan Field, Boise, Idaho, to become part of the fledgling 484th Bomb Group. The group was formed around a cadre from the 5th Anti-submarine Squadron who had been flying operations over the Atlantic from Westover Field, Massachusetts. The Group consisted of four Squadrons, the 824th, 825th, 826th and 827th Bomb Squadrons, with 9 crews in each Squadron. Upon arrival, the men were assigned to their crews and issued with their flight clothing and equipment (if they hadn't already been issued with it). On 7th December 1943, the Group was on the move again, this time to Harvard, Nebraska. Once at Harvard, the Group consolidated it's organisation and begun the intensive preparation for overseas deployment.

Training was carried out using well worn B-24D's and followed a schedule of activities that each crew was required to complete. These tasks were detailed on a long sheet, and included cross-country flights, night flights, navigational exercises, etc. As each task was completed, the training sheet would be marked accordingly. Sallies crew completed their tasks faster than the other crews on their squadron, a fact that didn't go down too well with the "old hands" from the Anti-sub cadre!

In February 1944 the Group received 36 brand new H model B-24's, among them the yet to be named Salvo Sally. Being new aircraft, they had to be guarded around the clock and this unenviable task fell to the enlisted men of the crew. Nebraska in February was a cold place to be, and the unlucky individual detailed to carry out the night-time shift was forced to rig up a gasoline driven wheeled engine heater to blow hot air into the cockpit to keep him warm.

In early March the Group flew en-masse to Lincoln, Nebraska where the aircraft were prepared for overseas service. Any outstanding technical modifications were carried out and plywood boxes were fitted into the bomb bay to carry military post on the overseas journey. On 20th March, the crew departed from Lincoln and flew to Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Florida where they remained overnight and refuelled. The following day they departed the US, whereupon they learned their destination… Italy. Also on board at this time was a member of the Group staff, a Captain Oliver, an aficionado of fine rum. Their destination was Port-au-Prince, Trinidad, but at the behest of Captain Oliver a "fault" developed on the aircraft and they had to make a landing at San Juan, Puerto Rico where a quantity of Rum was taken aboard. Once airborne again, they continued to their original destination in Trinidad.

After an overnight stay in Trinidad, the crew flew on to Belem, Brazil, a flight which took them over mile after mile of dense rainforest. After a further overnight stop, they then carried on to Forteleza on the eastern most tip of Brazil, another flight over dense rainforest. Upon arrival, the aircraft were prepared for the long flight across the Atlantic and the crew had yet another overnight stay. Whilst there, Brazilian boot vendors came onto the base and every member of the crew bought a pair of the locally produced calf length white leather lined pull-on boots at $5 a pair.

At 2.00am the following evening, the crew departed Brazil for the 12-hour flight across the Atlantic to Dakar, Senegal. The departure time had been selected to allow the Navigators maximum daylight time. The aircraft flew individually, so the skill of each navigator was severely tested. The altitude was maintained at a few thousand feet to conserve fuel.

Upon their arrival at Dakar the crews rested overnight before flying on to Marrakech, Morocco. The following day they flew on to Djejda, just outside Tunis, Tunisia and there they stopped whilst the Corps of Engineers made improvements to their eventual destination in Italy. Their stay in Tunis lasted for about 2 weeks, and the Enlisted men of the crew took the opportunity to have Sallies nose art and name painted on the rear of their A-2 flight jackets by a local French artist. He also adorned the left shoulder of their jackets with the 15th Air Force insignia and the right shoulder with a US flag.

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