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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane May 2, 2020 12:24 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hi Mario
Google this "Po River Pontoons" and you will get lots of information about the subject.
Have a nice day
and don't let the virus get you.
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 2, 2020 9:25 PM (in response to Alice Lane)Alice, results from google are a lot of unuseful items, only generic aerials: not shots five thousand feet above Po river, 23-29 april 1945 at noon, when GI wade in.
Google is unable to retrieve specific items.
Anyway, thanks for your suggestion, we need someone who know air-reconnaissance USAAF archives.
So long.
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane May 3, 2020 6:42 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hi again,
Hope I did better this time. I am doing volunteer work here, can't make a good hit every time.
10 division not your usual photos............https://www.pinterest.com/pin/671036413207412769/
You probably have but I am on the page so I am sending just in case.
http://www.sulleormedeinostripadri.it/images/Traduzioni%20download/87thhistory.pdf
Book entitled Packs On! by Feuer...can be downloaded. Claims to have photos.
Have a nice day.
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 5, 2020 8:15 PM (in response to Alice Lane)Thanks for your answer Alice, let me show this search:
the National Archives index of aerial photographs, using thousands of map overlays, contains some aerials for 23 april 1945 soaring above Quingentole area, four miles west of Revere on the Po river southern shores.
Next, by 24 and 25 april 1945 the USA UK ANZAC engineers launched six pontoon bridges from here downstream, that is from San Benedetto (Mantua) to Pontelagoscuro (Ferrara) spanning 30 miles, so reaching the northern shoreline with six beacheads.
But no aerial photographs are in the overlays maps between 23 and 30 april 1945 (locating these bridges) or even in the month of may because the six bridges remained in civil use,
and so the photographs could be archived or stored otherwise.
Where?
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Sylvia NaylorMay 13, 2020 9:43 AM (in response to Mario Venturini)
Dear Mr. Venturini,
Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!
We located a series in the National Archives Catalog titled “Military Intelligence Photographic Interpretation (MIPI) Reports” in the Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff) that might be of relevance to your research. There is an index to this series. The description of the index may be viewed here. For more records relating to MIPI reports, please see the following results in the National Archives Catalog. Further, we entered as “Po river” as a keyword for a search in the National Archives Catalog and we located the following records relating to the Po river. For access to the records, please contact the reference unit listed in the description.
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located a series titled “Unit Histories, 1943-1967” in the Records of U.S. Army Operational, Tactical, and Support Organizations (World War II and Thereafter) (Record Group 338) that includes a file unit titled 87th Regiment: General Orders and 11 files units for 10th Mountain Division. In addition, we located the series titled World War II Operations Reports, 1940-1948 in the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office (Record Group 407) that includes records of the 87th Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. For access to and/or copies of this/these records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.
Also, you might be interested in reviewing Reference Information Paper 79 titled “World War II Records in the Cartographic and Architectural Branch of the National Archives” compiled by Daryl Bottoms as it may provide some useful information for your research.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from various NARA units. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 16, 2020 8:17 PM (in response to Sylvia Naylor)Dear Miss Naylor,
many thanks for your wide search suggestions and detailed routes to reach the correct shelves into many American Archives. Being on the other side of Atlantic, let me try all these paths toward an interesting period of the War in Europe. Next I will report on progress of my findings.
Gratefully of your splendid and complete work.
Many many thanks, again.
(Mario)
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Elliot Schneider May 13, 2020 2:02 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hello Mario
Have you tried contacting the following, lots of information on their website. Army Transportation Corps, and USACE. Hope you are able to get some answers to your questions.
https://transportation.army.mil/
https://www.usace.army.mil/about/
Thanks,
Elliot Schneider
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 18, 2020 7:24 PM (in response to Elliot Schneider)Hello Mr. Elliot,
have not tried, but these links now will be searched usefully.
Many many thanks for your suggestions.
(Mario)
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane May 19, 2020 5:45 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hi again Mario,
Found another website that may be useful. World War 2 Database.
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 22, 2020 8:36 PM (in response to Alice Lane)Many thanks miss Alice for your wise suggestion, so I'm extending my searches there.
(Mario)
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane May 26, 2020 6:42 AM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hello again Mario,
Found this video dated 1944...could it have the wrong date or was this a similar operation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb-_LLPpOz0
https://history.army.mil/brochures/po/72-33.htm
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 28, 2020 12:05 AM (in response to Alice Lane)Hello, miss Alice,
the Date of this reportage is correct as 1944 and the river is not the Po river, but one of many that flows down the Po valley and merges all waters into Po river. Anyway an intersting reportage.
The page of Army History contains some good pictures of bridges and pontoons across Po river, and thats is my problem: these photographs are from National Archives, but are dispersed in many boxes with proper documents ...so you could not reach these photos if you do not know the TITLE of the documents associated with the photo.
You must open all these boxes, one by one, to recover one or two photographs.
No problem in fact ...simply open these boxes one by one.
Many thanks, by Mario.
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane May 28, 2020 11:26 AM (in response to Mario Venturini)Mario,
Have you seen the photos before somewhere? Need more information
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 30, 2020 11:27 PM (in response to Alice Lane)By now only two aerial photos of Po river have seen, showing the april 1945 crossing:
n.1 - an aerial photo of a completed pontoon, taken from 1500 feet high, above the river near Bonizzo, looking southeast, not a perfect reproduction into an history of that US Army divisions who reached these shores on 24 and 25 april 1945 saved in PDF on my computer years ago (the Title i could recover next) so being an official photo i presume, even if the caption do not refer to Bonizzo shores (eastward of Revere and Ostiglia area) the site is sure Bonizzo anyway.
n.2 - an aerial photo of a ford on the Po river, taken from 3000 feet high, where boats and DUKW and LVT have their beacheads on both the south and north shores, where wide earthworks are completed, not a perfect reproduction into Engineer History Fifth Army Mediterranean Theater (Volume Two) page 231 with "THE PO" caption, but i never was able to discover where are that shores, or maybe located on a British eastern sector of Po river?
Now i'm searching all the boxes listed in National Archives, commencing on folders suggested by miss Sylvia Naylor here above.
Many thanks Alice, by Mario Venturini.
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini May 31, 2020 5:28 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Oh Alice,
the book with the photo n.1 is "Fifth Army History - Part IX Chapter V" with the photo in front of page 99 and the caption is "The II Corps treadway bridge near Ostiglia, opened 26 April 1945" where looking south are visible part of Bonizzo roads and houses, two miles eastward and downstream from Ostiglia railroad destroyed bridge.
(Mario)
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Alice Lane Jun 3, 2020 12:10 PM (in response to Mario Venturini)Hi again Mario,
While researching something else, I found this, thought it might interest you. Seems this man has done a lot of research on WW2. Maybe he can help you. https://www.ww2research.com/locate-individual-by-air-corps-unit/
Alice
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Re: Seeking air photo of Po River crossing using pontoons or DUKWs
Mario Venturini Jun 15, 2020 2:45 PM (in response to Alice Lane)Hellò miss Alice, many many thanks for your suggestion,
this researcher has done a lot of work, but ...unfortunately, into his list of air squadrons do not appear those two army air force squadrons that in 1945 could being here above my Po River pontoons taking photographs,
(A) 3rd Photo Group
(B) 12th Photo reconnaissance Squadron,
but no problem, Alice, anyway please look the map here under: the area of Po River interest is in blue.
So long.
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