April 1943. NATAF commander Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham (left); Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) commander Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz (second left), Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) commander Air Marshal Arthur Tedder (second right) and staff officer Brigadier General Laurence S. Kuter (right).
Active
Formed February 18, 1943.[1]
Allegiance
Allies of World War II
Branch
United States Army Air Forces/Royal Air Force/South African Air Force/Royal Australian Air Force
Type
Major Command
Role
"Open the Mediterranean sea lanes and help drive the Axis from Tunisia and Africa" (David R. Mets)[2]
Engagements
1943-02-18 North African campaign
1943-02-18 Tunisia Campaign[3]
1943-06-25/26 Oil campaign of World War II (Bari, Italy)
Military unit
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 first units of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) arrived in the Middle East in June 1942 and were organized as the Ninth Air Force. In November 1942, the U.S. Army 12th Air Force established a foothold in Algeria following Operation Torch. Cooperation between the Allied air forces was an important priority in the Mediterranean theatre and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and their staffs addressed this priority at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 when they established a new Allied air force organization known as the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) with Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder as Air Commander-in-Chief.
NAAF was organized on a successful tripartite (or "tri-force") air interdiction model – consisting of specialised strategic, coastal, and tactical air forces – pioneered by Air Marshal Arthur Tedder and Air Vice Marshal Arthur Coningham of Middle East Command in Egypt and Libya during 1942. Effective coordination of air and ground forces was a key feature of the tripartite model. Consequently, the main combat commands of NAAF emulated MEC. This tripartite command structure was regarded as successful; it was therefore retained when NAAF was superseded in December 1943, by the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF).[4][5]
^Arnold, Henry A., AAF: The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces, Special Edition for AAF Organizations, Pocket Books, New York, (1944), p. 152
^Mets, David R., Master of Airpower: General Carl A. Spaatz, Presidio Press, Novato, CA (1988) p. 156.
^Arnold, Henry A., AAF: The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces, Special Edition for AAF Organizations, Pocket Books, New York, (1944), p. 25
^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).
^Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (Volume 2, HMSO, 1953).
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