LIGHTNING FIGHTERS. This twin-engined fighter was the first successful long-range bomber escort developed by the United States. Most Allied fighter planes in Italy gradually came to be used as fighter-bombers as the need for protecting bomber formations from hostile aircraft diminished. In August 1943 the Germans had only about six hundred combat aircraft, mostly fighters, in Italy. About a third of these were of limited use. Demands for fighters on the Russian front and the need for protecting production centers in Germany from Allied bombings caused some withdrawal of enemy fighters based in Italy. (P-38.)] [Illustration: ITALY THUNDERBOLT FIGHTER-BOMBERS over the northern Apennines. Note belly tank to increase range, and bombs under wings. Beginning in October 1944, extensive use of the 110-gallon fuel tank incendiary bombs containing a jelly-like mixture called napalm was made for the first time on the Italian front. The bombs proved particularly effective against enemy bivouacs and troop installations in wooded areas where the highly inflammable fuel, scattered over a wide area, could start numerous fires. Fighter-bombers co-operated closely with the ground forces. (P-47.)] [Illustration: ITALY MUSTANG FIGHTERS. This plane, the P-51, was originally made for the British and was used by the Royal Air Force as early as November 1941. The Army Air Forces started to use it in July 1942. The A-36 version of the P-51 was a fighter-bomber, and except for diving brakes and differences in armament, the two ships were alike. With the addition of wing tanks the P-51 became a long-range fighter used to escort bombers.] [Illustration: ITALY LIBERATOR BOMBERS from Italian bases bombing the Munich area in southern Germany. Smoke-making generators in operation to blanket vital areas. Note black bursts of antiaircraft fare. Heavy bombers from Foggia could easily strike at the passes in the Alps and attack enemy installations and factories in southern Germany and Austria as these targets were closer to Allied bases in Italy than they were to those in England.] [Illustration: ITALY LIBERATOR BEING SHOT DOWN by flak over the Po Valley in northern Italy. As the war in the Mediterranean progressed the size and effectiveness of the enemy air forces decreased, while the antiaircraft defenses increased and became more and more concentrated around the remaining enemy targets. As various enemy targets were damaged beyond usefulness, antiaircraft units defending them were sent to strengthen defenses around industrial plants still in production.] [Illustration: ITALY