more than ninety percent of all the bombs it dropped within the designated target area. Bombing precision in it. *AP those days was computed on the basis of an imaginary Vlif . . 3' 4Fit -. circle that covered an area 600 feet in radius from the 14.11blr' - • center of the objective. The group had flown more than 500 missions and was ....11115111iiiV t . ' .t. also highly regarded for its excellent formation flying. The 321st was frequently chosen to demonstrate these , ° # skills for visiting dignitaries. But it was the accuracy of * i k A • w' ilk% our pinpoint bombing—the bridge-busting, the com- •1 t * v mand-post hits, the runways cratered, the railroad yards

s . leveled, and the close support of ground troops in Italy—that won the praise of those who inspected the • aerial photos of our raids. Preparations for the invasion of Southern France were well under way following the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. There was one unknown, however. In the harbor of Toulon, protected by eighty-two heavy anti- aircraft guns, were remnants of the French Navy that constituted a considerable threat to the Allied fleet and invasion forces. French seamanship was well regarded by Allied naval commanders. During the invasion of North Africa, the French battleship Jean Bart, with just one of her turrets operational, still sought to challenge the Allied landing forces. She fought with great gallantry When precise bombing was needed to neutralize a against overwhelming odds. potential naval threat to the invasion of Southern On August 17, the third day of the invasion of South- France, the medium bomb wing with the best accuracy ern France, aerial reconnaissance revealed that the record was called upon. The result: a battleship, French battleship Strasbourg, the cruiser La Galliso- cruiser, and submarine taken out of the picture. niere, a Le Hardi-class destroyer, and a submarine had been repositioned within Toulon harbor. Their firepower constituted a threat to Allied forces operating nearby. In the evenings, we often gathered along a road lead- ing from the bomb depot to see what type of bombs were Precision Bombing being dollied to the airfield. This gave us a good idea as to the mission we would be flying the next day. On the evening of August 17, 1944, we saw 1,000- pound armor-piercing and 1,000-pound general-purpose Pays Off bombs being trundled to the airfield. We knew that the next day's mission would be an interesting one. The following morning, we were briefed on Mission No. 498, code-named DRYBEEF. The order was to BY DINO A. BRUGIONI "neutralize the firepower of the heavy naval units at Toulon at all costs." We were briefed on the threat posed HEN one thinks about how battleships were sunk by the naval units; about the antiaircraft defenses; and Wduring World War II, tremendous endeavors and informed that the weather over the target would be heroic feats come to mind: the maximum effort put forth CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited), but that there by the British in tracking and destroying the Bismarck, was bad weather gathering all around Corsica. the audacious attack by the Japanese on Battleship Row We took off at 1053 hours, assembled at 1126, and at Pearl Harbor, the death of Yamato under merciless began our flight to the target at 13,000 feet. At that aerial attack by US Navy aircraft off Okinawa in April altitude, the force of thirty-six B-25s was extremely 1945. vulnerable to the heavy AAA guns defending the harbor. Yet, virtually unnoticed in history, equal skill, valor, Although "window" was used on the bomb run to mis- and daring of a B-25 bomber group resulted in the loss to lead defensive radar, the flak was extremely intense— the Axis of a battleship, a cruiser, and a submarine in both barrage and tracking on the bomb run and on the Toulon harbor in the south of France on August 18, breakaway. By the time we had cleared the target, eleven 1944. men had been wounded and twenty-seven of the B-25s I was assigned to the 321st Bombardment Group, 57th had some damage. Bombardment Wing, Twelfth Air Force, stationed at Bombs away came at 1246 hours, and the pattern was Solenzara, Corsica, at the time, and took part in the an excellent one. There were eight direct hits on the raid. deck of the Strasbourg, igniting three fires on its deck. A It was no accident that the 321st was called on to near miss opened a large hole below the waterline, caus- perform that mission. The group had the best record for ing the battleship to list to starboard and settle in. The bombing accuracy in the Mediterranean theater, placing cruiser was also hit and listed to starboard with its deck

90 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 1982 Opposite page—intense flak over Toulon harbor is clear; its alignment and altitude were on the mark in this photo taken by the author. Above, bombs of 321st Bomb Group score direct hits on the battleship Strasbourg and the cruiser La Gallissoniere. Right and below, two views of the precision bombing results: Strasbourg, with extreme bomb damage, has listed to starboard and settled on the mud bottom; La Gallissoniere has keeled over on its starboard side. (USAF photos)

awash, later keeling over on its side. The submarine was On our return from the target, we were required to sunk; the destroyer had departed prior to the arrival of pass over the Allied invasion fleet. Heavy squalls forced the B-25s. us to descend below 1,000 feet, with the risk of being fired on by mistake, so we fired our Very flare guns and used emergency radio channels to inform the fleet of our Until his recent retirement, Dino A. Brugioni was a senior predicament. official and a reconnaissance and photo-interpretation Because of the wounded airmen, aircraft damage, and expert for the Central Intelligence Agency. During World weather problems, the group dispersed to land at three War II, he flew sixty-six bombing and a number of separate airfields. reconnaissance missions over North Africa, Italy, France, The mission was later rated as one of the most de- Germany, and Yugoslavia and was awarded the Purple structive ever carried out by a group of medium bomb- Heart, the Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, and a ers. The 321st Group was awarded a Presidential Unit Presidential Unit Citation. After the war he pursued studies Citation for what was described as the "extraordinary at George Washington University, receiving a B.A. and an M.A. in foreign affairs. He joined the CIA in 1948 and has heroism and proficiency that was demonstrated written extensively on the application of aerial throughout the attack." photography to intelligence and other fields. He is an The next day, we were back out bridge-busting for the outspoken advocate of the use of aerial photography as a Seventh Army moving inland from the beaches and up historical source. the Rhone Valley. •

AIR FORCE Magazine June 1982 91