12th Air Force patch

12th Air Force patch, original, White back, WW2.

The 12th AF was created and activated on August 20, 1942 in the United States.

From the end of August to September, it crosses the Atlantic, heading to Great Britain. In November 1942, she headed south, towards AFN (French North Africa), and participated in the Anglo-American landings (Operation Torch).

The landing being a success, it sets up its bases in AFN and can thus operate throughout the MTO. She thus participated in the Tunisian campaign, the landing in Sicily (Operation Husky), the Italian campaign Operation Strangle and the landing in Provence (Operation Anvil Dragoon). She was retired from active service on August 31, 1945.

List of day-to-day combat missions of the 12th USAAF:

November 8, 1942: Start of Operation Torch. Fighting above La Senia airfield, around Oran and Tafaraoui.

November 9, 1942: Strafing of an armored column and anti-aircraft batteries around Tafaraoui and along the coast.

August 17, 1944: Bombing of the Pavie bridge in Montpellier

August 24, 1944: Bombing of the Pavie bridge in Montpellier

May 7, 1945: Reconnaissance above the Austrian Alps.

May 8, 1945: End of combat missions. Transport and resupply missions.