…... of cutting off all German troops facing 8th Army. It was hoped that in the ensuing bout the air forces would be able to attack every convoy of vehicles in sight.
On 9th April, after flying a normal morning programme so as not to alert the enemy, a vast aerial onslaught was waged on the German front line positions. Throughout this bombardment 285 Wing were kept on the ground, their primary task being to assess its effect on completion. As soon as the bombardment was finished 8th Army started its advance across the Senio River to capture the town of Lugo and the Squadron put its aircraft into the air. Due to strong fighter bomber activity however they were not as yet cleared to overfly the front line. In the next few days the Squadron reported little activity on the roads north of the bombline. On 14th April 5th Army commenced its advance on Bologna. The Squadron provided continuous artillery reconnaissance cover throughout the day though only four targets were engaged.
The following day, during which twenty eight sorties were flown, three pilots failed to return from reconnaissance missions their fate being unknown. In the next few days the weather deteriorated often preventing the aircraft from getting airborne until the afternoon. It was on 22nd April, under cover of the previous days bad weather that the enemy started to pull out and tactical reconnaissance missions reported a great deal of movement on all roads leading north to the River Po. Many targets including some 50 boats and pontoons on the river were flashed back to the fighter bombers who were kept busy throughout the day. Due to the rapid advance of 8th and 5th Armies the Squadron moved to Bologna airfield on 26th April but no sooner had the advanced party arrived than it was told to move again to Villa Franca. By the time the Germans had got north of the Po they ceased to be an Army and on 30th April it was announced that all organised resistance in Italy had ceased.
On 2nd May Flight Lieutenant “Judy” Garland, who had recently been reclassified as missing believed dead having baled out over enemy lines over a year previously, suddenly turned up. He had been wounded in the leg and taken prisoner by the Germans, however he escaped from a hospital train and was hidden by the partisans. After nearly a year the wound in his leg had healed up and he made
