M A A F " Mediterranean Allied Air Force " The 12th AF became part of this.... Click on Photo for Story.

There were no textbooks to guide the Twelfth Air Force, under Maj. Gen. John K. Cannon, which is the American component of the Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force. Since El Alamein, the Mediterranean has been the laboratory for tactical air forces, and the Italian campaign was to witness the further development of tactical air powe
Results of Twelfth Air Force activities since the invasion of Italy must be gauged by the extent to which they have aided or influenced the advances made by Allied Ground Forces and by the damage they have done the German military machine in the past 14 months. The role of the Twelfth, primarily, has been to operate with and assist the Ground Forces in their penetration of Axis Europe. The Twelfth has also demonstrated, in "Operation Strangle," the ability of an air force to create an interdiction on such a scale as to have a marked effect on the battle for Germany itself.

Italy presented a number of problems early in the campaign, one of which was the necessity of basing short-range fighters and fighter bombers in Sicily. Other problems were bad weather, the mountainous terrain, and the extent of the rail and road network over which the enemy could move his troops and supplies. The necessary "know-how" to overcome these problems had to be gained by the Twelfth Air Force in its day-to-day operations, working under a combined command and in close cooperation with the British Desert Air Force.

This report was prepared by the Army Air Forces and is dated Feb. 27, 1945.