Created in 1942, and immediately placed under the command of General
Doolittle, the 12th Air Force was responsible for conducting Operation
Torch on November 8, 1942.
The unit served with the Northwest African Air Forces from February to
December 1943, then with the Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean
(MAAF) until the end of the war alongside the other unit presented in
this work: the 15th Air Force.
Formed in November 1943, the 15th Air Force was established to operate
in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO), primarily from air
fields located in southern Italy where they were stationed. The
objectives of both units were to destroy all the oil refineries and
aircraft factories.
Gérard Paloque provides a well rounded overview of all those involved in
the 12th and 15th Air Forces as well as the aircraft utilized by these
two great units, bringing to life many of the objectives and results
that have been often forgotten by World War II historians.
The reader will find a chapter dedicated to the famous Tuskegee
airmen--the 322nd Fighter Group of the 15th Air Force, the United
States' first all-black air unit.