Mauro Bifani

Operation Pomegranate Mauro Bifani

During the Second World War, two military aircrafts crashed on Monte Tezio, a few miles from Perugia. Thanks to research on the ground and interviews with local people, it was possible to identify the type of aircrafts involved, the point of the impacts, the names of the crew members, and the missions they were carrying out. This research allowed to investigate aspects of the events that were completely unknown but highly compelling. In particular, Operation Pomegranate, the mission of the second plane that took place in January 1944. By following eyewitness testimonies, small metal fragments that enabled the identification of the aircraft were discovered in an area of the mountain. A sensational finding crowned the complex research: the discovery of the case of a Longines watch belonging to one of the crew members that was handed over to a family member of the co-pilot. In 2012, the booklet Il Tezio testimone di guerra was published by the Monti del Tezio Cultural Association, where the stories of the two planes were presented together with what had been discovered up to that moment. Since then there have been significant developments concerning both historical documents and personal memories, and the contacts established with some family members of the servicemen allowed to bring the story started in 1944 to a close. Two further accidents on Monte Tezio are also discussed. The appendices contain documents relating to the C-47 incident and some chapters of the book Who Cares Who Wins by Jimmy Quentin Hughes.