Northwest African Tactical Air Force
The Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) was a component of the
Acting Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham , who had been air officer commanding Western Desert Air Force became the commander of NATAF.[1] and the WDAF became part of the new NATAF
Composition
The components of NATAF at the time of the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) on July 10, 1943, are illustrated below.[2][3]
| Desert Air Force Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst |
XII Air Support Command
Major General Edwin House |
Tactical Bomber Force Air Commodore Laurence Sinclair
|
|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Wing (SAAF)
No. 2 Squadron, Supermarine Spitfire |
John Stevenson
524th Squadron , A-36 Mustang
|
No. 3 Wing (SAAF)
, Boston |
| No. 239 Wing
No. 3 Squadron RAAF, Kittyhawk |
86th Fighter-Bomber Group (USAAF)Major Clinton True 527th Squadron , A-36 Mustang |
No. 232 Wing (RAF)
No. 55 Squadron, Baltimore |
| No. 244 Wing [c]Brian Kingcome (RAF)[6] No. 417 Squadron RCAF, Spitfire , Spitfire
No. 601 Squadron RAF |
33d Fighter Group (USAAF)
Colonel William Momyer 99th Squadron , P-40, Detached
|
No. 326 Wing (RAF)
No. 18 Squadron, Boston |
| No. 322 Wing (RAF) Colin Falkland Gray (RAF) No. 81 Squadron, Spitfire |
324th Fighter Group (USAAF)Colonel William McNown 314th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk |
47th Bombardment Group (USAAF)Colonel Malcolm Green, Jr. 97th Squadron , A-20 Havoc |
| No. 324 Wing (RAF) Daniel Le Roy du Vivier (RAF[e]) No. 43 Squadron, Spitfire |
31st Fighter Group (USAAF)Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hill 307th Squadron, Spitfire |
12th Bombardment Group (USAAF)Colonel Edward Backus 83rd Squadron, B-25 Mitchell , B-25 Mitchell434th Squadron |
57th Fighter Group (USAAF)Colonel Arthur Salisbury 66th Squadron , P-40 Warhawk |
111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron , Mustang
|
340th Bombardment Group (USAAF)Lieutenant Colonel Adolph Tokaz 489th Squadron , B-25 Mitchell- |
79th Fighter Group (USAAF)Colonel Earl Bates 87th Squadron , P-40 Warhawk
|
No. 225 Squadron (RAF), Spitfire | |
| No. 285 Wing (Reconnaissance)
No. 40 Squadron SAAF, Detachment, Spitfire |
No. 241 Squadron RAF, Hurricane | |
| No. 6 Squadron RAF, Hurricane |
For Operation Husky,
The table above illustrates the squadron assignments and commanders for the important period of
See also
Notes
- ^ The British and Commonwealth forces used "Kittyhawk" as service name for Curtiss P-40D and later models
- ^ Dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter/fighter-bomber
- ^ 244 Wing was commanded by Ian Gleed until he was shot down on 16 April 16 1943 then by W. G. G. Duncan Smith until replaced by Kingcome
- ^ American designation of the same aircraft as the Boston
- ^ le Roy du Vivier was a Belgian pilot who joined RAF in 1940
References
- ISBN 0-912799-03-X).
- ^ Richards, Dennis; Saunders, Hilary (1954). The Royal Air Force 1939-1945: Volume II The Fight Avails. History of the Second World War. HMSO – via Hyperwar Foundation.
- ^ Howe, George F., Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, Center of Military History, Washington, DC., 1991.
- ^ Participation of the Ninth & Twelfth Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, Army Air Forces Historical
Study No. 37, Army Air Forces. Historical Office Headquarters, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, 1945. - ^ Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, 1983.
- ISBN 9781849083447. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ "Biographies : Major General Edwin J. House". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.