Army Air Forces
in
World War II

Vol. II
Europe: TORCH to PONTBLANK
August 1942 to December 1943

Prepared Under the Editorship of
Wesley Frank Craven, Princeton University
James Lea Cate, University of Chicago

 


Contents

  Forward v
 
  I. The North African Campaigns
Thomas J. Mayock, Air Intelligence Division
 
 
1. Crisis in the Middle East 3
2. TORCH and the Twelfth Air Force 41
3. The Landings and the Race for Tunis 67
4. The Winter Campaign 105
5. Defeat and reorganization 132
6. Climax in Tunisia 166
 
  II. Origins of the Combined Bomber Offensive
Arthur B. Ferguson, Duke University
 
 
7. The Daylight Bombing Experiment 209
8. The War Against the Sub Pens 242
9. The Casablanca Directive 274
10. Over Germany 308
11. The CBO Plan 348
12. The Antisubmarine Command 377
 
  III. Sicily and Southern Italy
Albert F. Simpson, Air Historical Group
 
 
13. Pantelleria 415
14. Conquest of Sicily 446
15. The Invasion of Italy 488
16. The Fifteenth Air Force 546
17. Operations to the End of the Year 575
 
  IV. Toward OVERLORD
Alfred Goldberg, Air Historical Group
Arthur B. Ferguson, Duke University
 
 
18. Air Logistics in the ETO 599
    Alfred Goldberg  
19. Build-Up 631
    Alfred Goldberg  
20. POINTBLANK 665
    Arthur B. Ferguson  
21. The Autumn Crisis 707
    Arthur B. Ferguson  
 
  V. Final Reorganization
Alfred Goldberg, Air Historical Group
Albert F. Simpson, Air Historical Group
 
 
21. Final Reorganization 733
 
Notes (Footnotes are included/hyperlinked with each chapter.)
Appendix 855
Glossary  
Index 865

List of Maps and Charts

Beginnings of AAF Operations Frontispiece
The Delta and Related Areas 12
The TORCH Area 44
Casablanca and Oran Areas 69
Eastern Algeria and Tunisia 80
El Alamein to El Agheila 93
Bengasi to Gabés 101
Southern Tunisia 133
Northern Tunisia 197
Eighth Air Force Targets, August 1942-June 1943 215
Bomber Combat Formations, Summer 1943 332
Principal Units of Northwest Africa Air Forces, 1 June 1943 417
Pantelleria 420
Principal NAAF Targets, 15 June-9 July 1943 436
Final Allied Plan for Invasion of Sicily 443
Airborne Operations, HUSKY 448
Principal NAAF Targets in Sicily During HUSKY, 10 July-17 August 1943 457
Advance of Seventh and Eighth Armies, 10 July-17 August 1943 461
Principal NAAF Targets Outside Sicily, 10 July-17 August 1943 467
Ploesti Attack, 1 August 1943 480
Plans for Post-HUSKY Invasions 490
Northwest African Air Forces, 15 August 1943 497
Southern Italy, Principal Rail Lines 505
Southern Italy, Principal Roads and Airfields 508
Invasion of Italy 513
Principal NAAF Targets, 18 August-8 September 1943 515
Salerno-Paestum Area, 12 September 1943 522
Airborne Operations, AVALANCHE, September 1943 532
Advance of Allied Armies in Italy, 3 September-6 October 1943 540
Advance of Fifth Army, 7 October-15 November 1943 549
Central Italy, Principal Roads and Airfields 553
Central Italy, Principal Rail Lines 556
Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces, 1 November 1943 569
Eighth Air Force Installations, June 1944 647
USSTAF Air Service Installations, June 1944 650
Eighth Air Force Targets, June-December 1943 667
Mission to Schweinfurt, 14 October 1943 700
VIII Air Force Service Command, December 1943 745
Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, 9 January 1944 751
U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, May 1944 753
Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces, 15 December 1943 839
Units of Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, 1 January 1944 840
Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Missions, 17 August 1942-31 December 1943 841-52

List of Illustrations

Facing
Desert Air War 94
  Housekeeping  
  Squadron Headquarters  
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Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation