2641st Special Group The 2641st Special Group ( Provisional ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with Fifteenth Air Force , based at Rosignano Airfield , Italy . It was inactivated on 20 May 1945 . Overview . Thus the primary mission of the Special Group was insertion and supply of Office of Strategic Services ( OSS ) agents behind enemy lines in Italy and the Balkans and the supply of resistance and partisan forces operating in these areas . The bulk of the operation was in support of the 2677th Regiment OSS ( Provisional ) at Bari Airfield , Italy . Later targets would include Austria as OSS efforts concentrated on the rumored construction of a " National Redoubt " in the Austrian Alps from which a last - ditch defense of Nazism was anticipated . History . Engaged in special operations in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations , December 1944 - May 1945 . The 885th Bomb Squadron operated primarily in Italy . The 859th Bomb Squadron operated primarily in the Balkans . When weather conditions made it advisable to operate in one area or the other , both squadrons were employed in the same area . The squadrons of the Special Group operated specially modified B - 17 Flying Fortress es and B - 24 Liberator s painted all black with very limited identification markings . The 885th operated both types of aircraft while the 859th operated only Liberators . The aircrews were trained in low - altitude night operations in which the pilot , navigator , and bombardier worked together to guide the aircraft to the drop zone ( DZ ) . This often necessitated traversing mountainous terrain followed by descent into deep valleys , in darkness , guided in the final approach by the eyes of the bombardier and the hands of the pilot . Final approach to the DZ was at an altitude of a few hundred feet at near stall speeds . Several Distinguished Unit Citation s and numerous commendations were awarded to the two squadrons and to the 2641st Special Group ( Prov ) as a result of their efforts . The 859th received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm for support of the French Resistance during Operation Carpetbagger in the summer of 1944 . At the time the 859th was based at RAF Harrington , England with the 801st / 492d Bombardment Group , Eighth Air Force . The 885th was also awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm for operations in support of the French Resistance and a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations on the night of 12 / 13 August 1944 . On that date the 885th , while based at Blida Airport , Algeria , delivered a total of 18 agents and 67 , 000 pounds of war material to the Resistance in the south of France . The 2641st Special Group ( Prov ) received a Unit Citation for operations in Italy ' s Po Valley on the night of 17 / 18 February 1945 in which both the 885th and 859th squadrons participated . Again , the Special Group was designated the 15th Special Group ( Prov ) at the time of this operation but by the time the Unit Citation was issued it had been designated the 2641st Special Group ( Prov ) and , according to Col . MacCloskey , the Unit Citation carried that designation . At the peak of its operations in February 1945 , the Special Group delivered thirty - four agents and over two million pounds of weapons and supplies while operating twenty - six out of twenty - eight days and flying approximately one - half million miles . Three hundred and fifty - four successful sorties ( nearly 14 per day on average ) were flown out of four hundred and eighty - six attempts . The vast majority of unsuccessful sorties were the result of " no reception " at the target drop zones . This feat was accomplished by forty - eight aircrews , thirty - four aircraft , and their ground support personnel . These efforts were not without cost . During its brief five - month period of operation ( January - May ) , the Special Group lost to flak , fighters and the hazards of special operations a total of seven aircraft with thirty - five crewman killed in action . These losses were on top of previous losses suffered by the two component squadrons in their prior assignments . In addition , as a result of these losses , several crewmen of the Special Group spent time in German prisoner of war camps during the last days of the war in Europe .