"The airfield was built on a table top mesa with two runways about 90 degrees apart. The longest runway of 2200 yards used up all the flat land surface. This length was barely long enough for the B-26 bombers, which had only two motors, to successfully lift off when fully loaded. This type of bomber had two bomb bays and could carry a load equivalent to a B-24 with four motors. 1st Sgt. Donahue had his tent pitched about 200 yards from the runway end, but well below the level of take-off. One plane, fully loaded, aborted his take-off and skidded to about 50 yards from the tent. Sgt. Donahue moved within the hour. Later a bad accident at the end of the other runway killed the Airfield C.O., his Exec. and the S-3. The new commander that we reported to was 21 years old his Executive Officer 19."

"Of the 48 B-26 and B-26B (gun in tail) that flew out one morning to bomb the Ploesti oil fields, only 13 made it back to Sedrata. Some made emergency landings in Tunisia, but many didn't make it back at all. A few I saw were shot up pretty bad. Other bombing raids were directed against the island of Pantelleria and Sicily. The only enemy air raids were against the port of Bone. Sedrata was about 100 miles inland from this port."

"To break the monotony of manning the guns and life in general at the airfield, excursion trips were made to the city of Constantine and also to some old Roman hot baths nearby."

"Major Beard procured a Navy 20 mm gun with ship mount and gave it to Btry D to help defend the Sedrata airfield. The mount was so heavy that it took the Bn. 4 1/2 ton truck with hoist to lift it. Capt. Maxfield regarded the gift of the gun as punishment."

"After the Sedrata airfield, Btry D was scheduled to move to an airfield near Chateaudun Du Rhanel. During a reconnaissance of the field, I witnessed the blowup of a B-24 on take-off. We immediately drove the jeep over to the explosion area. The biggest piece we found was the metal head block of a .50 cal. machine gun. A load of 500# bombs can turn an airplane into thousands of small parts."

"On 22 July 43 Btry D was assigned to defend an English airfield near La Sebala, Tunisia, where a squadron of Beaufighter torpedo planes was stationed. Our mission here ended 28 Oct 43."

"One day was outstanding. The returning planes started buzzing the airfield (flying under the nearby power lines). The English soldiers were shouting, jumping up and down and waving their hats. Upon inquiry, I was told that each fly under a power line meant a solid torpedo hit on an Axis ship. As more planes buzzed the airfield, the soldiers went wild. The squadron had caught the Italian navy being moved from Toranto to Trieste, Italy." (J.G.)

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