United States Army Air Forces formations and units in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) were the second-largest user of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress during World War II. There were a total of six combat groups (twenty-four squadrons) equipped with the bomber assigned to the Theater.
Initially equipped with the B-17F Flying Fortress, the 97th and 301st Bombardment Groups were flown from airfields in England to Algiers and Oran, Algeria in November 1942 after the Operation Torch landings. They were assigned to the 5th Bombardment Wing, XII Bomber Command, Twelfth Air Force. [1]
These initial two groups were joined in February 1943 by the 99th and in April 1943 by the 2d Bombardment Group, which both arrived from the United States. These heavy bomber units supported the American Fifth Army as it drove west into Tunisia during the North African Campaign. Initial targets were enemy positions in Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, and islands in the Mediterranean Sea. [1]
On 1 November 1943, the Twelfth Air Force became a tactical organization of fighters and medium bombers. Its heavy bombardment units (B-17 and B-24) were joined with those of the Ninth Air Force which had been based in Libya and which was moving without personnel or equipment to be re-established as a tactical organization in England. The combined heavy bomber forces in the Mediterranean were then designated as the Fifteenth Air Force, with all B-17 groups remaining assigned to the 5th Bombardment Wing. Fifteenth Air Force's mission was to carry out long distance bombardment missions against enemy targets in Southern and Central Europe. The groups also received their first B-17G Flying Fortresses in late 1943, and were moved to newly captured airfields in the Foggia area of Southern Italy. In Italy two new B-17 groups, the 463d and 483d Bombardment Groups, arrived from Third Air Force’s training airfields in the Southeastern United States in the spring of 1944 to reinforce the command. [1]
From their bases in Southern Italy, the Fortresses engaged in long-range strategic bombardment attacks against the enemy in Austria, the Balkans, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Poland, and Romania. Additionally, Fifteenth Air Force B-17s joined with Eighth Air Force B-17s as part of Operation Frantic, shuttle bombing raids against targets on the Eastern Front, landing at Poltava Airfield (AAF-559) in the Soviet Union during the spring of 1944. [1]
Fifteenth Air Force, along with its B-17 units were inactivated after the German capitulation in May 1945. [1]
B-17 units in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations operated from the following Airfields:
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Most combat airfields were temporary wartime facilities quickly constructed with pierced-steel planking runways and parking areas, with tents used for personnel quarters and a few wooden buildings used for operations. In Tunisia and Italy, some captured German Luftwaffe or Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) airfields were repaired and placed into service. Today, most show little evidence of their existence other than some faint outlines in agricultural fields.
The Fifteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force into a new numbered air force responsible for generating and presenting Air Combat Command’s conventional forces.
The 414th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It operates the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, last known assigned to the 39th Expeditionary Operations Group, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The 39th Expeditionary Operations Group was part of the 39th Air Expeditionary Wing. It controls the launch and landing of the Predator air vehicles.
The 5th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, based at Sidi Slimane Air Base, Morocco. It was inactivated on 15 July 1958.
The 467th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was to the Strategic Air Command, being stationed at Clovis Army Airfield, New Mexico. It was inactivated on 4 August 1946.
The 815th Airlift Squadron is a flying unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command and part of the 403d Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates Lockheed C-130J Hercules aircraft providing global airlift.
The 168th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard 168th Air Refueling Wing located at Eielson Air Force Base, Fairbanks, Alaska. The 168th is equipped with the KC-135R Stratotanker.
The 32nd Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. It operates the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aircraft conducting air refueling missions. The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 19 May 1917, being organized at Camp Kelly, Texas. The squadron deployed to England as part of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. During World War II, the squadron saw combat service as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress unit, assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. During the early years of the Cold War, it was a Boeing RB-47 Stratojet strategic reconnaissance squadron as part of Strategic Air Command.
The 86th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 47th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. It operates Raytheon T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training.
The 419th Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron. It is assigned to the 412th Operations Group, Air Force Materiel Command, stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
The 301st Operations Group is a flying component of the 301st Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Reserve Tenth Air Force. The group is stationed at Carswell Field, Texas.
Marcianise Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in southeast Italy, which is located approximately 10 km north-northwest of Marcianise in the province of Caserta, Campania; about 32 km north-northwest of Naples. Built in 1943 by United States Army Engineers, the airfield was a large facility capable of handling heavy bombers built for Fifteenth Air Force, which stationed B-17s at the field after the war, prior to their return to the United States. However its primary use was by Air Technical Service Command and by Twelfth Air Force tactical fighter bomber units during the Italian Campaign. The field was used by the senior command of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations based at the Royal Palace of Caserta through 1947.
The 340th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the USAF Weapons School. It is stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The 340th is assigned to the 57th Wing, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The mission of the squadron is to provide Boeing B-52 Stratofortress instructional flying.
The 353d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It last was assigned to the 301st Bombardment Wing, stationed at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio. It was inactivated on 8 June 1964.
The 352d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 301st Bombardment Wing at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, where it was inactivated on 8 June 1964.
The 347th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4047th Strategic Wing, and was inactivated at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida on 1 April 1963.
The 341st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4038th Strategic Wing. It was last stationed at Dow Air Force Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 1 February 1963.
The 342d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4137th Strategic Wing at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, where it was inactivated on 1 February 1963.
This is a list of United States Army Air Forces Consolidated B-24 Liberator units and formations during World War II including variants and other historical information. Heavy bomber training organizations primarily under II Bomber Command in the United States and non-combat units are not included.
The 483d Airlift Group is an inactive unit last assigned to Pacific Air Forces at Osan AB Korea. It was assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force as a VIP transport unit for Headquarters, Seventh Air Force. It was inactivated on 1 June 1992.
The 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was a provisional United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 385th Air Expeditionary Group, stationed at Al Udeid Air Base, Doha, Qatar. It was last engaged in combat operations in Southwest Asia.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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