217419 Jack LaCara Canicatti US Army Air Corps 719th Squadron 449th Bomber Group from:New York, NY My Grandfather, Jack Canicatti of 449th Bomber Group 719th Squadron, took off from Grottaglie on 17th October, 1944. The target of mission 150 was to blow up the railways in Vienna, Austria. The B24 liberator named "Spirit of Plainfield, NJ" (s/n 42-51763) was hit and started losing altitude. My Grandfather, the left waist gunner was injured in his leg, as was the navigator John W. Clark. All 10 men managed to bail out before the plane crashed.
My Grandfather was taken to the hospital in Györ, Hungary where he remained for a month. He was then taken to Stalag Luft IV.
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