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Mediterranean Air Command | |
---|---|
Active | February 18 – December 10, 1943 |
Allegiance | Allies of World War II |
Type | Major Command |
Engagements |
The Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) was a World War II Allied air-force command that was active in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) between February 18 and December 10, 1943 [ citation needed ]. MAC was under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, whose headquarters were next to those of the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Algiers, Algeria, during the planning of the Allied campaigns in Tunisia, Pantelleria, Sicily, and the invasion of mainland Italy during the war. [1]
After Operation Torch, in November 1942, the U.S. Army 12th Air Force established bases in Morocco and Algeria. The establishment of the two bases made it necessary for the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) to coordinate operations with the Allied ground forces and the Royal Air Force (RAF), which had been fighting Axis forces (primarily in Egypt and Libya) for two years. Coordination and cooperation between the USAAF, the RAF, and Allied naval and ground forces were a major concern to British and American leaders at the Casablanca Conference. The flexible coordination of the RAF with the 8th Army during this period has been contrasted with the more rigid relationship between the Luftwaffe and German ground forces. [2] As a result, effective February 18, 1943, Allied air forces were reorganized into the Mediterranean Air Command. [3]
The successful air interdiction model of the RAF was developed by Tedder as Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command and Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham as Air Officer Commanding Air H.Q., The Western Desert, in 1942.
One RAF tactic, the Tedder Carpet, consisted of successive squadrons of bombers dropping a rolling barrage of bombs, ahead of their advancing forces. This motivated the nickname of the 12th Bombardment Group as The Earthquakers. Another close air support tactic involved the highly mobile leap-frogging of interspersed landing fields to facilitate the performance of 1) attack; 2) top cover; and 3) reserve (refueling) fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons.[ citation needed ]
To promote cooperation between the USAAF and RAF, a unit commander of one air force would be assigned a deputy commander from the other air force. A major exception to this convention existed in the MAC headquarters itself, where Tedder's Deputy Commander-in-Chief was Air Vice Marshal H. E. P. Wigglesworth.[ citation needed ] However, the MAC chief of staff was American Brigadier General Howard A. Craig, who had been schooled in desert-warfare army-air operations by both Tedder and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. In keeping with the new convention, Spaatz's deputy in the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) was Air Vice Marshal James Robb, who handled NAAF operations. [4]
The primary forces used for cooperative strategic, naval, and close air support of ground forces by Tedder and Coningham in Egypt and Libya had consisted of:[ citation needed ]
The Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) was the principal sub-command of MAC, and its structure was based on the successful air interdiction model of the RAF. In keeping with the RAF model, planners at the Casablanca Conference vested NAAF with three major combat commands: [5]
Air interdiction, using strategic, coastal, and tactical air forces, was further implemented, practiced, and developed by the NAAF throughout the Tunisian, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns.[ citation needed ]
Lewis Brereton's U.S. 9th Air Force was initially assigned to Sir Sholto Douglas' RAF Middle East Command, with some units being assigned to other MAC commands—such as the 57th and 79th Fighter Groups, to No. 211 (Offensive Fighter) Group in the Northwest African Tactical Air Force's western Desert Air Force, under Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst; the 324th Fighter Group, to XII Air Support Command, under Major General Edwin House; and the 12th and 340th Bombardment groups, to the Tactical Bomber Force, under Air Commodore Laurence Sinclair.
The US 12th Air Force, which had been the largest air force ever assembled following its inception several months earlier, ceased to exist in the new MAC organization. The 12th simply disappeared as its groups were distributed among the various NAAF commands.[ citation needed ] The sole remaining reference to the 12th Air Force among the higher commands was House's XII Air Support Command, which—along with Broadhurst's Western Desert Air Force, Sinclair's Tactical Bomber Force, and Air Commodore Sir Kenneth Cross' No. 242 Group RAF—became a subordinate command of Coningham's NATAF. Before the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), in July 1943, No.242 Group became part of Lloyd's NACAF.[ citation needed ]
The Mediterranean Air Command was disbanded on December 10, 1943, and was succeeded by the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF).[ citation needed ]
The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 Group RAF under RAF Middle East Command in North Africa in 1941 to provide close air support to the British Eighth Army against Axis forces. Throughout the Second World War, the DAF was made up of squadrons from the Royal Air Force (RAF), the South African Air Force (SAAF), the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and other Allied air forces.
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and exiles from German-occupied Europe. Renamed as British Air Forces of Occupation in 1945, 2TAF was recreated in 1951 and became Royal Air Force Germany in 1959.
The Twelfth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
Operation Husky order of battle is a listing of the significant military and air force units that were involved in the campaign for Sicily, July 10 – August 17, 1943.
Ninth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint Department of Defense combatant command responsible for U.S. security interests in 27 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.
Air Marshal Sir Arthur "Mary" Coningham, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War, he was at Gallipoli with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, was discharged in New Zealand as medically unfit for active service, and journeyed to Britain at his own expense to join the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a flying ace. Coningham was later a senior Royal Air Force commander during the Second World War, as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief 2nd Tactical Air Force and subsequently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Flying Training Command.
The term Tactical Air Force was used by the air forces of the British Commonwealth during the later stages of World War II, for formations of more than one fighter group. A tactical air force was intended to achieve air supremacy and perform ground attack missions.
Operation Flax was a Western Allied air operation executed during the Tunisian campaign, as part of the larger North African campaign of the Second World War. The operation was designed to cut the air supply lines between Italy and the Axis armies in Tunis, Tunisia, in April 1943. The parallel Allied naval effort was Operation Retribution.
William Wallace Momyer was a general officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Among his notable posts were those commanding the Air Training Command, the Seventh Air Force during the Vietnam War, and the Tactical Air Command (TAC). During his tour in Southeast Asia, he was concurrently the deputy commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) for air operations and thus responsible for Operation Rolling Thunder, the air campaign against North Vietnam, which Momyer executed in the face of micromanagement from President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara.
Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) was a component of the Allied Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) during February–December 1943. It was responsible primarily for air operations during the Tunisian Campaign and bombing of Italy. Its commander was Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz of the United States Army Air Force. NAAF was created following a reorganization of the command structure of Allied air forces in the Mediterranean Theatre. The other components of MAC were Middle East Command (MEC), AHQ Malta, RAF Gibraltar and 216 Group.
The Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) was the major Allied air force command organization in the Mediterranean theater from mid-December 1943 until the end of the Second World War.
The Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) was a sub-command of the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) which itself was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC). These new Allied air force organizations were created at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 to promote cooperation between the British Royal Air Force (RAF), the American United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and their respective ground and naval forces in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO).
The Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) was a component of the Northwest African Air Forces which itself reported to the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC). These new Allied air force organizations were created at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 to promote cooperation between the British Royal Air Force (RAF), the American United States Army Air Force (USAAF), and their respective ground and naval forces in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Effective February 18, 1943, the NATAF and other MAC commands existed until December 10, 1943, when MAC was disbanded and the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) were established. Acting Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham was the commander of NATAF.
The Northwest African Training Command (NATC) was a sub-command of the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) which itself was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC). These new Allied air force organizations were created at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 to promote cooperation between the British Royal Air Force (RAF), the American United States Army Air Force (USAAF), and their respective ground and naval forces in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Effective February 18, 1943, the NATC and other MAC commands existed until December 10, 1943 when MAC was disbanded and the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) were established.
No. 201 Group was a group of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
No. 205 Group was a long-range, heavy bomber group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) established on 23 October 1941 by boosting No. 257 Wing to Group status.
No 211 Group or No. 211 Group was a Group of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed on 10 December 1941 by renaming Nucleus Group Western Desert. The group was officially disbanded from 3 February 1942 to 12 March 1943, although some references refer to some of its original squadrons during this period as being with 211 Group. On 12 March 1943, the group reformed as No. 211 Group and Air Commodore Richard Atcherley assumed command of the group on 11 April 1943. At this time, 211 Group was the principle fighter force of the Desert Air Force (DAF) commanded by Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst, and DAF was a sub-command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham's Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF).
No. 242 Group was a group of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) formed on 24 August 1942. Its first commander was Air Commodore George Lawson.
Middle East Command was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active during the Second World War. It had been preceded by RAF Middle East, which was established in 1918 by the redesignation of HQ Royal Flying Corps Middle East that had been activated in 1917 although a small Royal Flying Corps presence had been operational in the region since 1914.
Air Vice Marshal James Rowland Scarlett-Streatfeild, was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was killed in an air crash as he travelled to accept the surrender of German forces in Norway.