Allied Air Forces
At the time of Operation Husky, the Allied air forces in the North African and Mediterranean Theaters were organized as the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force. The major subdivisions of the MAC included the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under the command of Lt. General Carl Spaatz of the U.S. Army Air Forces, the American 12th Air Force (also commanded by Gen. Spaatz), the American 9th Air Force under the command of Lt. General Lewis H. Brereton, and units of the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
Also supporting the NAAF were the RAF Middle East Command, Air Headquarters Malta, RAF Gibraltar, and the No. 216 (Transfer and Ferry) Group, which were subdivisions of MAC under the command of Tedder. He reported to the Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower for the NAAF operations, but to the British Chiefs of Staff for RAF Command operations. Air Headquarters Malta, under the command of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Park, also supported Operation Husky.
The "Desert Air Task Force" consisting of American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers (the 12th and 340th Bombardment Groups) and P-40 Warhawk fighter planes (the 57th, 79th, and 324th Fighter Groups) from the 9th Air Force served under the command of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force. These bomber and fighter groups moved to new airfields on Sicily as soon as a significant beachhead had been captured there.
In the MAC organization established at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, the 9th Air Force was assigmed as a subdivision of the RAF Middle East Command under the command of Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas.
Read more about this topic: Operation Husky Order Of Battle
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