The Northwest African Troop Carrier Command (NATCC) was a combined British-U.S. air command of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was a sub-command of the

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 ...

which itself was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC). These new

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

air force organizations were created at the

Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were U ...

in January 1943 to promote cooperation between the British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF), the American

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

, and their respective ground and naval forces in the North African and

Mediterranean Theater of Operations The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army forc ...

(MTO) during the

. Effective from February 18, 1943, the NATCC and other MAC commands existed until December 10, 1943 when MAC was disbanded and the

Mediterranean Allied Air Forces The Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) was the major Allies of World War II, Allied air force command organization in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II, Mediterranean theater from mid-December 1943 until the ...

(MAAF) were established.

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Paul Williams was the commander of NATCC. The components of NATCC at the time of the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

(codenamed "Operation Husky") on July 10, 1943 are illustrated below. Albemarle towing a Horsa glider

Northwest African Troop Carrier Command
''Brigadier General Paul L. Williams'' {, class="wikitable" , - ! 51st Troop Carrier Wing
''Brig. Gen. Ray Dunn'' !

52nd Troop Carrier Wing The 52d Troop Carrier Wing (52 TCW) is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force. It was last assigned to the New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) as the 52d Fighter Wing, being stationed at Westchester County Airport, New York. It was in ...

''Brig. Gen. Harold Clark'' ! RAF Detachment , - ,

60th Troop Carrier Group 060 may refer to: * Motorola 68060 microprocessor * 0-6-0, wheel arrangement for railway locomotives * emergency telephone number in Mexico, "060" * Bermuda, country code "060" (ISO 3166-1 numeric) * 060, the area code for Chimay in the Belgian tele ...

''Lt. Col. Frederick Sherwood'' ---- 10th Squadron, C-47
11th Squadron, C-47
12th Squadron, C-47
28th Squadron, C-47 , 61st Troop Carrier Group
''Colonel Willis Mitchell'' ---- 14th Squadron, C-47
15th Squadron, C-47
53rd Squadron, C-47
59th Squadron, C-47 , No. 38 Wing
''Air Commodore William Primrose'' ---- No. 295 Squadron (Det.), Halifax
No. 296 Squadron, Albemarle
-
- , - , 62nd Troop Carrier Group
''Lt. Col. Aubrey Hurren'' ---- 4th Squadron, C-47
7th Squadron, C-47
8th Squadron, C-47
51st Squadron, C-47 , 313th Troop Carrier Group
''Colonel James Roberts Jr.'' ---- 29th Squadron, C-47
47th Squadron, C-47
48th Squadron, C-47
49th Squadron, C-47 , - , - , 64th Troop Carrier Group
''Colonel John Cerny'' ---- 16th Squadron, C-47
17th Squadron, C-47
18th Squadron, C-47
35th Squadron, C-47 , 314th Troop Carrier Group
''Colonel Clayton Stiles'' ---- 32nd Squadron, C-47
50th Squadron, C-47
61st Squadron, C-47
62nd Squadron, C-47 , - , - , - , 316th Troop Carrier Group
''Colonel Jerome McCauley'' ---- 36th Squadron, C-47
44th Squadron, C-47
45th Squadron, C-47 , - , - Note:
In mid-1943, to facilitate transport and supply operations for Operation Husky, the USAAF 315th Troop Carrier Group (34th & 43rd Squadrons) was sent from England to Tunisia and assigned to the

Mediterranean Air Transport Service The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

which along with NATCC, was a sub-command of the Mediterranean Air Command. A tragedy occurred over the Farello Airstrip, when American anti-aircraft gunners mistook American troop carrier transports for enemy planes. On the night of July 11, 1943, 23 of 144 aircraft failed to return to Tunisia. Another 37 planes were badly damaged. The aircraft loss ratio was very high, at 16%. Brigadier General Charles Keerans, Jr., the Assistant Division Commander (ADC) of the

U.S. 82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thori ...

, was aboard one of the planes that did not return. The 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (including the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 504th PIR, along with the

376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion The 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (376th PFAB) (later redesignated the 376th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion) is an inactive airborne field artillery battalion of the United States Army. Active with the 82nd Airborne Division from 194 ...

, Company 'C' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion and numerous medical and signal units attached, for a total of some 2,300 men), under

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Reuben Tucker Reuben Tucker (born 30 December 1956) is a wrestler from Guam. He competed in the men's freestyle 90 kg at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as ...

, suffered a total of 229 casualties on the night of 11 July 1943: 81 dead, 132 wounded, and 16 missing.Garland, Albert N. and Howard McGaw Smyth, United States Army in World War II, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, Sicily and the Surrender of Italy, Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1993.

Citations

References

*Maurer, Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, 1983. *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. Allied air commands of World War II Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force in World War II