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HALVPRO, U.S. Army Air Forces combine

  • Published
  • By Andrew Anthony
  • 9th Air Force History Office
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  In June of 1942, the German and Italian forces under Field Marshall Erwin Rommel pushed the British back into Egypt and threatened to continue advancing.

The capture of Egypt by the Axis forces disrupted American and British supply lines to China, India and Russia, and posed a threat to the oil fields in Iran and Iraq.

The United States and Britain recognized the need to hold Egypt against the Axis advance and agreed that using heavy bombers to strike Rommel's supply lines would aid in Egypt's defense.

HALVPRO, a force of B-24 bombers under Col. Harry Halverson, had been conducting attacks on Rommel's supply lines since early June, but more aircraft and personnel were needed to achieve a decisive impact.

On June 28, 1942, Maj. Gen. Louis Brereton arrived with nine B-17 bombers and 225 men from Tenth Air Force.

The aircraft and personnel that accompanied Gen. Brereton combined with HALVPRO and a small number of U.S. Army Air Forces liaison and transport aircraft in Egypt to form U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces, under the command of Gen. Brereton.

Additional B-24s arrived in July to further increase U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces' bomber force.

Flying from bases in Palestine, where they had withdrawn in the face of the Axis threat to Egypt, U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces bombers conducted raids against German and Italian ports, airfields and supply convoys in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa.

Working in conjunction with the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Navy, U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces' operations damaged Axis port facilities, destroyed aircraft and sunk supply convoys.

These attacks reduced the fuel, reinforcements and supplies Rommel was receiving to a trickle. Gen. Brereton believed that U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces could play a key role in the Mediterranean Theater and pave the way for Allied offensive operations against southern Europe.

Accomplishing this would require the U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces to expand its role beyond strategic bombing and begin conducting tactical air support and fighter missions as well.

In August 1942, Gen. Brereton requested U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces be reinforced with additional aircraft suited to these missions.

The focus of Allied planners in the summer of 1942 was on the invasion of North Africa in Algeria, codenamed Operation Torch.

Since reinforcing U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces on the scale requested by Gen. Brereton would interfere with assets needed to support Torch, his request was denied.

U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces did, however, receive some reinforcements in August 1942, including P-40 fighters and B-25 medium bombers, along with support personnel and maintenance equipment.

These new types of aircraft allowed U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces to begin conducting tactical as well as strategic operations.

The new units, however, lacked combat experience. U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces worked closely with their RAF counterparts to integrate new U.S. Army Air Forces squadrons in with experienced RAF units to fly combat missions as part of their training.

The cross training between the RAF and U.S. Army Air Forces was particularly fruitful in developing tactical bombing techniques for close air support of ground units.

U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces aircrews put this training to good use in late October 1942 when they joined the RAF in support of the British offensive against Rommel at El Alamein, Egypt.

Flying missions against Axis supply lines and providing close air support for British armor and infantry, the U.S. Army Middle East Air Forces contributed greatly to the Allied victory at El Alamein, which ended the Axis threat to Egypt and put the Allies on the offensive in North Africa.