Lot # : 404 - WWII US ARMY AIR CORPS 9TH AIR FORCE TUNIC BULLION

WWII 9th Air Force four pocket jacket with a beautiful bullion Theater Made Shoulder Sleeve Insignia. The tunic is also adorned with a set of Aerial Gunner Wings that are pinback  with a ribbon bar with European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, Good Conduct Medal and a Purple Heart as well as a Presidential Unit Citation, Staff Sergeant Chevrons with an enlisted Stripe and three gold overseas stripes. The tunic is a size 38R and in excellent condition. World War IIEstablishmentIn the summer of 1941 General Headquarters Air Force (GHQ AF) decided to establish commands to direct its air support mission in each of its numbered air forces, plus one additional command that would report directly to GHQ AF. These commands were manned from inactivating wings, and would initially control only observation squadrons, which would be transferred from the control of the corps and divisions, although they would remain attached to these ground units. GHQ AF organized 5th Air Support Command at Bowman Field, Kentucky in September 1941, drawing its personnel and equipment from the 16th Bombardment Wing, which was simultaneously inactivated. New observation groups were formed, with a cadre drawn from National Guard squadrons that had been mobilized in 1940 and 1941. 5th Air Support Command was redesignated as 9th Air Force in April 1942. It moved to Bolling Field, DC on 22 July and transferred without personnel or equipment to Cairo, Egypt on 12 November 1942. Operations in Western Desert Campaign, 1942–1943: In June 1942, the German Afrika Korps advance in North Africa forced the British Eighth Army to retreat towards Egypt putting British Middle East Command at risk. The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) had already planned for a buildup of American air power in the Middle East in January 1942 in response to a request from the British Chief of the Air Staff, but the first units arrived unexpectedly on 12 June 1942 as Col. Harry A. Halverson, commanding twenty-three B-24D Liberator heavy bombers and a hand-picked crews (a group called HALPRO – from "Halverson Project"), decided to move to Egypt. They had initially been assigned to the China Burma India Theater to attack Japan from airfields in China, but after the fall of Rangoon the Burma Road was cut, so the detachment could not be logistically supported in China. HALPRO was quickly diverted from its original mission to a new one—interdictory raids from airfields in Egypt against shipping and North African ports supporting Axis operations. On 28 June 1942, Major General Lewis H. Brereton arrived at Cairo to command the U.S. Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF), which was activated immediately. USAMEAF comprised the Halverson Project, Brereton's detachment (9th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and other personnel which Brereton brought from India), and the Air Section of the U.S. Military North African Mission. Several USAAF units were sent to join USAMEAF during next weeks in the destruction of Rommel's Afrika Korps by support to ground troops and secure sea and air communications in the Mediterranean. In September 1942, RAF Middle East Command's Senior Air Staff Officer, Air Commodore H. E. P. Wigglesworth was authorized by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder to select targets for all U.S. heavy bombers. "A development of some importance in the career of USAMEAF manifested itself administratively on 12 October (1942) when orders were cut assigning nine officers to the IX Bomber Command, which organization was then and for a month afterwards unofficial. This command had its roots in a discussion on 5 September between Tedder's senior air staff officer, Air Vice Marshal H. E. P. Wigglesworth, and G-3 officers of USAMEAF, during which Wigglesworth asserted that he had control, delegated by Tedder, over the target selection for the U.S. heavy bombers. Col. Patrick W. Timberlake, G-3 of Brereton's staff, took a serious view of this assertion in that it violated the Arnold-Portal-Towers agreement that American combat units assigned to theaters of British strategic responsibility were to be organized in "homogeneous American formations" under the "strategic control" of the appropriate British commander in chief. In a memo of 7 September, Timberlake granted that this canon might be justifiably violated in the case of the 12th Bombardment and 57th Fighter Groups, but he could see no reason why operational control of the 1st Provisional and 98th Groups, comprising four-fifths of the heavy bomber force in the Middle East, should not be vested in American hands. Subsequent negotiations carried the point with the British, who even turned over their 160 Squadron (Liberators) to the operational control of IX Bomber Command. On 12 October a small staff moved into Grey Pillars [RAF headquarters in Garden City, Cairo, and thenceforth USAMEAF's bombers operated only under the "strategic" direction of the British. Timberlake headed the organization, with Kalberer as his A-3 and Lt. Col. Donald M. Keiser as his chief of staff."—The Army Air Forces in World War II. On 1 November 1942, General Bernard Montgomery launched an attack on the Afrika Korps at Kidney Ridge. After initially resisting the attack, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel decided he no longer had the resources to hold his line and on 3 November he ordered his troops to withdraw. Allied victory in the Second Battle of Alamein was accomplished. Ninth Air Force had been first constituted as V Air Support Command, part of Air Force Combat Command, at Bowman Field, Kentucky on 11 September 1941. Its responsibility was to direct and coordinate the training activities of National Guard observation squadrons inducted into federal service with those of light bomber units training with the Army Ground Forces. However a lack of unity of command in the organizational set-up led to an early discontinuation of the "air support commands" and V Air Support Command was redesignated as Ninth Air Force in April 1942. It moved to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., on 22 July and transferred without personnel or equipment to Cairo, Egypt on 12 November 1942. The Ninth Air Force mission comprised: (1) Gain air superiority; (2) Deny the enemy the ability to replenish or replace losses, and (3) Offer ground forces close support in North-East Africa. On 12 November 1942, the US Army Middle East Air Force was dissolved and replaced by HQ Ninth Air Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton. At that time, the Ninth Air Force consisted of: By the end of 1942 a total of 370 aircraft had been ferried to the Ninth Air Force. While the great majority were P-40s, Consolidated B-24 Liberators (The original Halverson Detachment (HALPRO), 98th Bombardment Group, 376th Bombardment Group, and RAF units), and B-25 Mitchells (12th) and 340th Bombardment Groups), there were also more than 50 twin-engine transports (316th Troop Carrier Group), which made it possible to build an effective local air transport service. Ninth Air Force P-40F fighters (57th, 79th, and 324th Fighter Groups) supported the British Eighth Army's drive across Egypt and Libya, escorting bombers and flying strafing and dive-bombing missions against airfields, communications, and troop concentrations. Other targets attacked were shipping and harbor installations in Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, Italy, Crete, and Greece to cut enemy supply lines to Africa. The Palm Sunday Massacre was one noteworthy mission by the P-40 and Spitfire groups. After an Allied air forces command reorganisation effective 18 February 1943, the Ninth Air Force began to report to RAF Middle East Command (RAFME) under Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas. Additionally, the Ninth's 57th, 79th, and 324th Fighter Groups and its 12th and 340th Bombardment Groups were transferred to the operational control of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) under the command of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. The Ninth's 316th Troop Carrier Group flew its missions with the Northwest African Troop Carrier Command (NATCC). In February 1943, after the Afrika Korps had been driven into Tunisia, the Germans took the offensive and pushed through the Kasserine Pass before being stopped with the help of both Ninth and Twelfth Air Force units in the battle. The Allies drove the enemy back into a pocket around Bizerte and Tunis, where Axis forces surrendered in May. Thus, Tunisia became available for launching attacks on Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew), Sicily (Operation Husky), and mainland Italy. At the time of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, Ninth Air Force Headquarters was still based at Cairo in Egypt while the Headquarters of Ninth Fighter Command and IX Bomber Command were stationed at Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya, respectively. During this critical period of World War II when the Allied forces finally left North Africa for Europe, the groups of the Ninth Air Force consisted of: During most of 1943, the Ninth Air Force was officially assigned to RAF Middle East Command of the Mediterranean Air Command. However, the Ninth's 12th and 340th Bombardment Groups were assigned to the Tactical Bomber Force, the 57th and 79th Fighter Groups were assigned to the Desert Air Force, and the 324th Fighter Group was surprisingly assigned to XII Air Support Command. The Tactical Bomber Force under Air Commodore Laurence Sinclair, the Desert Air Force under Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst, and XII Air Support Command under Major General Edwin House were sub-commands of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) under Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. NATAF was one of the three major sub-commands of the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz. NATAF, Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) and Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF), formed the classic tri-force, the basis for the creation of NAAF in February 1943. Ninth Air Force groups attacked airfields and rail facilities in Sicily and took part in Operation Husky, carried paratroopers, and flew reinforcements to ground units on the island. The heavy bombardment groups (B-24s) of the Ninth also participated in the low-level assault of the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania on 1 August 1943.On 22 August 1943 the following groups were transferred from the Ninth Air Force to the Twelfth Air Force: 12th Bombardment Group (Medium) at Gerbini, Sicily with B-25s 57th Fighter Group on Sicily with P-40s 79th Fighter Group on Sicily with P-40s 324th Fighter Group at El Haouaria, Tunisia with P-40s and 340th Bombardment Group (Medium) at Comiso, Sicily with B-25s The 316th Troop Carrier Group was operating under Northwest African Troop Carrier Command with C-47 Dakotas and CG4A Waco Gliders. Ninth Air Force 1943 to June 1944: Concurrently with the amalgamation of Ninth Air Force formations in the Mediterranean with Twelfth Air Force, plans were afoot in Britain to devolve Eighth Air Force's medium bomber force to a separate command. This command was offered to Brereton, who accepted "with utmost eagerness", and the force was constituted, also as Ninth Air Force, on 16 October 1943. During the winter of 1943–1944 Ninth Air Force expanded at an extraordinary rate, so that by the end of May, its complement ran to 45 flying groups operating some 5,000 aircraft. With the necessary ground support units, the total number of personnel assigned to Ninth Air Force would be more than 200,000, a total greater than that of Eighth Air Force. HQ Ninth Air Force extended IX Bomber Command's choice of targets considerably, although first priority for Operation Pointblank [the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) of US and RAF air forces against the Luftwaffe and German aircraft industry] and next priority for Operation Crossbow (codename for operations against German V-weapon sites) targets was maintained. U.S. and British Air Forces aimed to defeat the German Luftwaffe in the air and on the ground, to bring about complete air supremacy prior to the invasion of Normandy. Operational missions involved attacks on rail marshaling yards, railroads, airfields, industrial plants, military installations, and other enemy targets in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Other targets were German Atlantic Wall defenses along the English Channel coast of France. On 4 January 1944 XIX Air Support Command was activated at RAF Middle Wallop to support Patton's Third Army in Europe. In February 1944 the Ninth Air Force underwent a reorganization and several troop carrier groups relocated headquarters. Major General Otto P. Weyland became commanding general of XIX Air Support Command, replacing Major General Elwood R Quesada. The latter assumed dual command of both IX Fighter Command and the IX Air Support Command, which took control of all its fighter and reconnaissance units. HQ IX Air Support Command changed from Aldermaston Court to Middle Wallop. Major General Paul L. Williams, who had commanded the troop carrier operations in Sicily and Italy, replaced Giles in command of IX Troop Carrier Command. The IX TCC command and staff officers were an excellent mix of combat veterans from those earlier assaults, and a few key officers were held over for continuity. The groups assigned were a mixture of experience, but training would be needed to confront the expected massive movements of troops of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.On 18 April 1944, the IX and XIX Air Support Commands were redesignated, respectively, as IX Tactical Air Command and XIX Tactical Air Command. Between 1 May and the invasion on 6 June, the Ninth flew approximately 35,000 sorties, attacking targets such as airfields, railroad yards, and coastal gun positions. By the end of May 1944, the IX TCC had available 1,207 C-47 Skytrain troop carrier airplanes and was one-third overstrength, creating a strong reserve. Three-quarters of the aircraft were less than one year old on D-Day, and all were in excellent condition. Gliders were incorporated, Over 2,100 CG-4 Waco gliders had been sent to the UK, and after attrition during training operations, 1,118 were available for operations, along with 301 larger Airspeed Horsa gliders received from the British.On D-Day, IX Troop Carrier Command units flew over 2000 sorties conducting combat parachute jumps and glider landings as part of American airborne landings in Normandy of Operation Neptune. Other Ninth Air Force units carried out massive air attacks with P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers, North American B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. Air cover during the morning amphibious assault by Allied forces on the beaches of France was flown by P-38 Lightnings. With the beaches secure, its tactical air units then provided the air power for the Allied break-out from the Normandy beachhead in the summer of 1944 during the Battle of Cherbourg, Battle for Caen, and the ultimate breakout from the beachhead, Operation Cobra. Unlike Eighth Air Force, whose units stayed in the United Kingdom, Ninth Air Force units were very mobile, first deploying to France on 16 June 1944, ten days after the Normandy invasion by moving P-47 Thunderbolts to a beach-head landing strip. Because of their short range, operational combat units would have to move to quickly prepared bases close to the front as soon as the Allied ground forces advanced. The bases were called "Advanced Landing Grounds" or "ALGs". On the continent, many ALGs were built either from scratch or from captured enemy airfields throughout France, the Low Countries and Germany. Ninth Air Force units moved frequently from one ALG to another. By early August most Ninth Air Force operational fighter and bomber groups were transferred to bases in France and assigned to the U. S. Twelfth Army Group. These groups were then assigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) organizations which supported Army ground units. XXIX Tactical Air Command (XXIX TAC) was activated in France on 15 September 1944, commanded by Brig. Gen. Richard E. Nugent, to support operations of the U.S. Ninth Army. XXIX TAC supported the Ninth Army in the north; IX TAC supported the First Army in the center; and XIX TAC supported the Third Army in the south. Air cover over Allied-controlled areas on the continent was performed by the IX Air Defense Command. Ninth Air Force groups made numerous moves within France, the Low Countries and western Germany to keep within range of the advancing battle front before the end of hostilities in May 1945. During Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France in August 1944, two Ninth fighter groups were transferred to the provisional United States/Free French 1st Tactical Air Force supporting the invasion force's drive north. As part of Operation Market-Garden, the Ninth Air Force transferred its entire IX Troop Carrier Command with its fourteen C-47 groups to the 1st Allied Airborne Army in September 1944. Those troop carrier groups flew many of the C-47s and towed CG-4 Waco gliders for the Allied airborne unit drops—Operation Market Garden—to take the bridges northwest of Eindhoven at Son (mun. Son en Breugel), Veghel, Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem in the Netherlands. In December 1944 through January 1945, Ninth Air Force fighters and bombers were critical in defeating the Wehrmacht during the Battle of the Bulge. Initially American, British, and Canadian air power was grounded by very bad winter weather, but then the bad weather broke, freeing the tactical air forces to help break the back of the Wehrmacht attack. The long smash across France, Belgium, and Luxembourg was the highlight of the existence of the 9th Air Force. In the spring of 1945, Ninth Air Force troop carrier units flew airborne parachute and glider units again during Operation Varsity, the Allied assault over the Rhine River on 24 March 1945. Operation Varsity was the single largest airborne drop in history. The operation saw the first use of the Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando transport in Europe, operating with the reliable C-47 Skytrain of previous airborne operations, an experiment which ended with the catastrophic loss of 28% of the C-46s participating.