Operations of the 49th AAA Brigade in Europe June 6, 1944 to May 9, 1945

Campaign map for the 49th Anti-Aircraft Brigade

The distinctive shoulder patch for the 49th AAA brigade can be seen at the top of this map, and features a prospector shooting down an incoming plane. Members from the various units that comprised the brigade perhaps felt similarly under-matched the first time they encountered the V-1 “Buzz Bomb”. However, the 49th would ultimately be credited with shooting down over 1,000 of the remotely guided missiles in its European campaign, shown on this map likely published in 1945.

Locations that played important roles in the brigade’s operations are individually labeled across a region shaded to represent its general movements across France, Belgium, and Germany. Outside the map, basic illustrations of anti-aircraft equipment (specialized half-track, 40 mm Bofors, 90 mm M1) are dispersed between silhouettes of German fighters, bombers, and the dreaded V-1. Credit is paid to each of the contributing battalions and their specializations; automatic weapons, medium AA gun, searchlight, barrage balloons, and self-propelled vehicles.