Northwest African Tactical Air Force

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.^[1]

The components of NATAF at the time of the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) on July 10, 1943, are illustrated below.^[2][3]

NATAF - Desert Air Force - No. 211 Group - No. 239 Wing - No. 112 Squadron Kittyhawk at Medenine, Tunisia in 1943.

NATAF - XII Air Support Command - 27th Fighter-Bomber Group - A-36 Apache (Mustang).

NATAF - XII Air Support Command - 33rd Fighter Group - 99th Fighter Squadron Tuskegee Airmen standing by one of their P-40 Warhawks.

NATAF - AHQ Western Desert - No. 244 Wing - No. 601 Squadron Spitfires over North Africa in 1943.

Northwest African Tactical Air Force
Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham

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, Spitfire No. 4 Squadron, Spitfire No. 5 Squadron, Kittyhawk	27th Fighter-Bomber Group (USAAF) Lieutenant Colonel John Stevenson 522nd Squadron, A-36 Mustang 523rd Squadron, A-36 Mustang 524th Squadron, A-36 Mustang	No. 3 Wing (SAAF) No. 12 Squadron, Boston No. 21 Squadron, Baltimore No. 24 Squadron, Boston
No. 239 Wing No. 3 Squadron (RAAF), Kittyhawk No. 112 Squadron (RAF), Kittyhawk No. 250 Squadron (RAF), Kittyhawk No. 260 Squadron (RAF), Kittyhawk No. 450 Squadron (RAAF), Kittyhawk	86th Fighter-Bomber Group (USAAF) Major Clinton True 525th Squadron, A-36 Mustang 526th Squadron, A-36 Mustang 527th Squadron, A-36 Mustang - -	No. 232 Wing (RAF) No. 55 Squadron, Baltimore No. 223 Squadron, Baltimore - - -
No. 244 Wing No. 1 Squadron (SAAF), Spitfire No. 92 Squadron (RAF), Spitfire No. 145 Squadron (RCAF), Spitfire No. 417 Squadron (RCAF), Spitfire No. 601 Squadron (RAF), Spitfire	33d Fighter Group (USAAF) Colonel William Momyer 58th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 59th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 60th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk - 99th Squadron, P-40, Detached	No. 326 Wing (RAF) No. 18 Squadron, Boston No. 114 Squadron, Boston - - -
No. 322 Wing (RAF) Colin Falkland Gray (RNZAF) No. 81 Squadron, Spitfire No. 152 Squadron, Spitfire No. 154 Squadron, Spitfire No. 232 Squadron, Spitfire No. 242 Squadron, Spitfire	324th Fighter Group (USAAF) Colonel William McNown 314th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 315th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 316th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk - -	47th Bombardment Group (USAAF) Colonel Malcolm Green, Jr. 84th Squadron, A-20 Havoc 85th Squadron, A-20 Havoc 86th Squadron, A-20 Havoc 97th Squadron, A-20 Havoc -
No. 324 Wing (RAF) No. 43 Squadron, Spitfire No. 72 Squadron, Spitfire No. 93 Squadron, Spitfire No. 111 Squadron, Spitfire No. 243 Squadron, Spitfire	31st Fighter Group (USAAF) Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hill 307th Squadron, Spitfire 308th Squadron, Spitfire 309th Squadron, Spitfire - -	12th Bombardment Group (USAAF) Colonel Edward Backus 81st Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 82nd Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 83rd Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 434th Squadron, B-25 Mitchell -
57th Fighter Group (USAAF) Colonel Arthur Salisbury 64th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 65th Squadron,[4] P-40 Warhawk 66th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk - -	111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Mustang	340th Bombardment Group (USAAF) Lieutenant Colonel Adolph Tokaz 486th Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 487th Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 488th Squadron, B-25 Mitchell 489th Squadron,[5] B-25 Mitchell -
79th Fighter Group (USAAF) Colonel Earl Bates 85th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 86th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk 87th Squadron, P-40 Warhawk	Information in table taken from: 1) 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.	No. 225 Squadron (RAF), Spitfire
No. 285 Wing (Reconnaissance) No. 40 Squadron (SAAF), Det., Spitfire No. 60 Squadron (SAAF), Mosquito No. 1437 Flight (RAF), Mustang	2) Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, 1983.	No. 241 Squadron (RAF), Hurricane
No. 6 Squadron (RAF), Hurricane

For Operation Husky, No. 242 Group, originally a component of NATAF in February 1943, was assigned to the Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF). At the same time, Air Headquarters, Western Desert became known as Desert Air Force. All of the fighter units of Desert Air Force formed No. 211 (Offensive Fighter) Group commanded by Air Commodore Richard Atcherley on April 11, 1943, in Tripoli. The 99th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the XII Air Support Command on May 28, 1943, and subsequently attached to the 33rd Fighter Group. The actual squadron assignments and detachments varied throughout the war depending on the specific needs of the air force. The table above illustrates the squadron assignments and commanders for the important period of World War II when the Allies prepared to invade Italy (Operation Husky), having just won the war in North Africa (Tunisia Campaign). In recognition of XII Air Support Command's operations in Sicily, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower presented Major General Edwin House with the Legion of Merit and stated the following:

"...for the first time established the application of a tactical air force operating in support of an American Army."^[6]

References

1. Craven, Wesley F. and James L. Cate. The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume 2, Chicago, Illinois: Chicago University Press, 1949 (Reprinted 1983, ISBN 0-912799-03-X).
2. Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (Volume 2, HMSO, 1953).
3. Howe, George F., Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, Center of Military History, Washington, DC., 1991.
4. http://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/orman.html
5. http://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/page.html
6. http://archive.is/20120717170315/http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=10344