CAF Centex - B-25s deploy to North Africa in July 1942 to help battle Germans

Mitchell B-25s were deployed to North Africa in July of 1942 to help battle Germans under Rommel command.

Flying to help the British in Egypt by the long South Atlantic route, American B-25s first battled Rommel at El Alamein and then turned around to help the Americans at Kasarine Pass. This was the first major US - German engagement of WWII. See a vintage 1943 film on the North Africa campaign at bottom of this post.

The 12th Bombardment Group (Light) was activated on 15 January 1941 and Prior to the United States’ entry into World War II the group trained with Douglas B-18 Bolo, B-23 Dragon, and Boeing Stearman aircraft at McChord Field, Washington. They were the only Air Corps combat unit on the Pacific Coast north of the San Francisco Bay area after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and they immediately began flying anti-submarine patrols and watching for signs of an invasion.

In February 1942, the group was redesignated the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) and moved to Esler Field, Louisiana, where it trained with B-25s for duty overseas. In June 1942, while in the United States for a conference with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill received word that the British Eighth Army had been badly defeated in a tank battle with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps near Tobruk, Libya, and was in full retreat back toward the Egyptian delta area. He immediately made an urgent plea for military aid to help stop Rommel from over-running Egypt and the Arabian oil fields.

North American B-25D-20 Mitchells of the 12th Bomb Group over North Africa, 1943. Serial 42-87113 in foreground.

Western Desert Campaign

As a result, the ground personnel of the 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) sailed out of New York City on 16 July 1942, for a month-long cruise around South Africa, and up the Indian Ocean to Suez, Egypt, arriving on 16 August 1942. 

The long South Atlantic transport route

During this time, the air crews of the 12th were flying their North American B-25 Mitchells from Morrison Field, Florida over the South Atlantic transport route to Egypt by way of Brazil, Ascension Island, across the hump of Africa to Sudan, and north to Egypt. The unit arrived in August, and were assigned to the USAAF Ninth Air Force.

B-25s flying in formation over the western desert.

As soon as they arrived in Egypt the group began training under the tutelage of a South African Air Force Boston (A-20) wing in desert warfare tactics and navigation. Once the air and ground crews were reunited – with two squadrons at RAF Deversoir and two at RAF Ismailia, about 15 miles apart on the Suez Canal – the 12th made rapid progress in its training and adapting to the new environment. After flying a few missions in combined 18-plane formations with the Bostons they made a substantial contribution to the defeat of Rommel's final effort to break through to the Suez Canal at the Battle of Alam Halfa on 31 August-4 September 1942.

North American B-25C Mitchell 41-2869 in formation escorted by RAF Fighters.

In order to be immediately available for strikes requested by the 8th Army, advance parties consisting of the combat crews and a few essential ground personnel set up camp in the desert at Landing Ground 88 (LG 88), about 20 miles from the front lines, while the bulk of each squadron remained at their bases on the Suez Canal. 

B-25 airmen decorate their plane with the history of their deployment.

The decisive Battle of El Alamein in 1942.

The Battle of El Alamein began 23 October 1942, after a tremendous artillery bombardment, and the 12th Bomb Group operating from LG 88 began a week-long shuttle service of 18 ship formations, taking off or landing every daylight half hour, attacking targets phoned in to 8th Army ALOs (Air Liaison Officers) attached to the Group. There was no rest for anyone as ground crews rushed to refuel, reload bombs and ammunition, and patch flak holes, in time for the next mission. By 4 November, the targets suddenly became mammoth columns of tanks, trucks and troops retreating to the west.

The American forces' "Baptism under Fire"

American forces under General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in Algeria and Morocco, and were met by fresh German divisions from Europe that were also put under Rommel's command. The situation became desperate as they drove the Americans back through Kasserine Pass. To reinforce the badly shot up XII Bomber Command of Twelfth Air Force, the flight crews of the 61st and 62nd Bomb Squadrons of the 12th Bomb Group were dispatched immediately from RAF Gambut, Libya, to Berteaux Airfield, Algeria, where they were attached to the 310th Bombardment Group for rations and administration on 3 February 1943. 

B-25's capabilities allow it to provide close low level ground support.

These two squadrons contributed substantially to Rommel's defeat at Kasserine, and continued operating under the Twelfth Air Force until the fall of Tunis in May, when they were returned to the Ninth Air Force. After the fall of Tunis, the 12th was reunited at Hergla Airfield, Tunisia, and all of the personnel of its squadrons were together again for the first time since their advanced parties moved out into the desert eight months earlier.

Listen to a WWII musical hit from the Andrew Sisters.

A Vintage, early WWII official War Department film.

The story of the "Earthquakers" The 12th Bomb Group of the 9th Air Force and it's role in the air campaign against the German Army (led by Rommel) in North Africa during World War II.

For More in formation on The Central Texas Wing of The Commemorative Air Force 

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