Air attacks in North Africa 1943-44

Discussion in 'North Africa & the Med' started by Catherine2, Oct 25, 2022.

  1. Catherine2

    Catherine2 Member

    Hello everyone

    My Great-Grandfather was in one of the vehicle companies in North Africa from May 1943 - February 1944, which was after the official German surrender.

    He was a truck driver and often had to pick up dead bodies after battles.

    He told a story of how his convoy was struck by German bombers overhead.

    He drove in a convoy across northern Algeria and Tunisia. I have his route card attached.

    I know I won’t be able to find the specific battle or place where this happened, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any big battles, or air attacks that happened during this time? As he was there AFTER the surrender, I am wondering how this supposed battle and air attack came to be and where it might have been…

    Many thanks

    Catherine
     

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  2. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    Luftwaffe air activity over the region continued until D-Day when its attention was diverted elsewhere. Lot of air attacks on North African ports and ship convoys proceeding along the African coast for example, with night fighter squadrons deployed to defend against them. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some of it was also directed at shore targets.

    This gives a flavour of some of the air activity.
    https://www.history.navy.mil/conten...ication-PDF/Mediterranean Convoys 1943-44.pdf
     
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  3. Takrouna

    Takrouna Active Member

    Air attacks on land targets continued after the Axis surrender in May 1943. For example, Gen Brian Horrocks was wounded in a German air attack on Bizerte, Tunisia, some weeks after the surrender.
     
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  4. Catherine2

    Catherine2 Member

    Hi Ewen thank you for this - when you say there were attacks on ship convoys docking at North African ports, what were they doing? Were vehicles / troops / artillery sent from North Africa to Italy during summer 1943 for the invasion of Italy?
     
  5. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Hi Catherine,

    That was definitely the case. The invasion of Sicily started in July 1943 and the mainland in September and the forces for those landings came from North Africa (excepting any that went Sicily->mainland). even after that point there was a large military presence in North Africa.
     
  6. Ewen Scott

    Ewen Scott Well-Known Member

    Not easy to explain simply because there was so much going on in the Med especially in 1943/44.

    On the one hand you have the various major invasions.

    Sicily - Operation Husky July 1943
    Troops for this came direct from the USA (45th Infantry div) and UK (1st Canadian Infantry Div) as well as ports throughout the Med from Algeria to Alexandria.

    Italy - Operation Avalanche Sept 1943 staged largely from North Africa.

    South of France - Operation Dragoon Aug 1944. Staged from Italy and North Africa.

    While Sardinia & Corsica fell into Allied hands in Sept 1943, the Luftwaffe continued to operate from bases in Southern France until their attention turned to the north after D-Day. That included raids on convoys in the western Med.

    Then you have the regular convoys both from the US (UG/GU fast and slow series) and the U.K. (KM/MK fast and slow series). Some ships carried reinforcements and others supplies.
    UG convoys - Wikipedia
    Gibraltar convoys of World War II - Wikipedia


    The Med reopened to through convoys to / from Alexandria from May 1943. That cut shipping times to Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. Something like 25% of all Lend Lease supplies to Russia in WW2 were routed via the Persian Gulf and Iran (occupied by Britain and Russia in Aug 1941). Beyond Gibraltar the story of individual convoys becomes complicated as ships joined from various Med ports, in North Africa and elsewhere, or left to go to them. You can see the make up of these convoys here. After Sept 1943 Naples became a major destination for resupply of the Italian Front. But much shipping was going right through to the Suez Canal.
    ConvoyWeb

    After the invasion of Southern France the port of Marseilles became the principal port supplying the Allied armies at the southern end of the front line in NW Europe. The US 14th Armoured Div landed there in Oct 1944 direct from the USA for example.
    Marseille and the Americans—A Wartime Story | Guide Collective

    North Africa remained important as a supply base until the end of the war. The RAF had Maintenance units at places like Casablanca assembling aircraft delivered from the UK. Egypt became a training base for aircrew destined for the Far East (for example P-47 Thunderbolt Pilots). Air operations over the Aegean from North African bases continued until at least the end of 1944 by which time the Germans had withdrawn from Greece leaving their island garrisons isolated. It provided staging bases for aircraft being flown to the Far East from both the USA and, from late 1944 after French airspace was secured, Britain.

    From late 1944 there was a great movement of RN landing craft, no longer needed in Britain, to India in slow convoys transiting the Med.

    So from mid 1943 the Med as a whole, was hugely important to the supply of the Allied war effort.
     
  7. Catherine2

    Catherine2 Member

    Thank you both very much
     

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