The Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) was a specialized functional command of the combined
Northwest African Air Forces
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 command ...
. The
Mediterranean Air Command
The Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) was a World War II Allied air-force command that was active in the North African and Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) between February 18 and December 10, 1943 . MAC was under the command of Air Chie ...
(MAC) oversaw the combined air forces until superseded by the MAAF.
The NACAF had responsibility for air defense of North Africa, sea/air reconnaissance, antisubmarine air operations, air protection of Allied shipping, and air interdiction of enemy shipping. The components of NACAF at the time of the Allied invasion of Sicily (
Operation Husky
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
) on July 10, 1943 are illustrated below.
[Richards, D. and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (Volume 2, HMSO, 1953).]
Order of Battle
Northwest African Coastal Air Force
''Air Vice-Marshal Sir
Hugh Lloyd
Hugh Lewis Lloyd (22 April 1923 – 14 July 2008) was an English actor who made his name in film and television comedy from the 1960s to the 1980s. He was best known for appearances in ''Hancock's Half Hour'', ''Hugh and I'' and other sit ...
''
Order of Battle, July 10, 1943
Notes:
^
No. 242 Group was originally a part of the
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 ...
(NATAF) but later transferred to NACAF.
The 1st and 2nd Antisubmarine Squadrons were assigned to NACAF for administration and placed under the operational control of United States Navy
Fleet Air Wing 15 A Patrol Wing (PatWing) was a United States Navy aviation unit with the commander of a Patrol Wing known as the Commodore, the ComPatWing or COMPATWING. From 1 November 1942 to 30 June 1973 Patrol Wings were designated "Fleet Air Wings". On 26 Mar ...
of the
Moroccan Sea Frontier
Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...
commanded by Rear Admiral
Frank J. Lowry.
No. 144 Squadron was attached from the United Kingdom.
Air Ministry was asked to provide two additional Wellington squadrons.
An Africa-based RAF Hudson of
No. 608 Squadron was the first aircraft to sink a
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
using rockets.
See also
*
List of Royal Air Force commands
This is a list of Royal Air Force commands, both past and present. Although the concept of a command dates back to the foundation of the Royal Air Force, the term command (as the name of a formation) was first used in purely RAF-context in 1936 w ...
References
Citations
{{Reflist
Bibliography
* Howe, George F., Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West, Center of Military History, Washington, DC., 1991.
Allied air commands of World War II
Military units and formations established in 1943