One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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1942<br />
August 20: <strong>The</strong> Army <strong>Air</strong> Forces activated Twelfth <strong>Air</strong> Force at Bolling Field,<br />
D.C. In November 1942, the Twelfth moved to the Mediterranean theater,<br />
providing the Allies with fighter and light-to-medium bomber<br />
operations in North Africa and Italy.<br />
September: <strong>The</strong> first members <strong>of</strong> the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps began<br />
to serve with the Army <strong>Air</strong> Forces at <strong>Air</strong>craft Warning Service stations.<br />
During the same month, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron<br />
was activated at New Castle, Delaware, under the command <strong>of</strong> Nancy<br />
Harkness Love, and the Women’s Flying Training Detachment under<br />
Jacqueline Cochran was established under Flying Training Command.<br />
September 12: <strong>The</strong> 4th Fighter Group activated at Bushey Hall, England, to<br />
furnish the first U.S. fighter escorts for Eighth <strong>Air</strong> Force heavy<br />
bombers on missions over occupied Europe. Former members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Eagle Squadrons, U.S. fighter pilots who had voluntarily served in the<br />
Royal <strong>Air</strong> Force before U.S. entry into the war, formed the nucleus <strong>of</strong><br />
the new group.<br />
September 15: Fifth <strong>Air</strong> Force transport planes airlifted the first U.S. troops<br />
to New Guinea, transporting men <strong>of</strong> the 126th Infantry Regiment<br />
from Australia to Seven-Mile <strong>Air</strong>drome near Port Moresby, New<br />
Guinea.<br />
October 2: At Muroc Field, California, Robert Stanley made the first flight<br />
in the Bell XP–59A, the first U.S. turbojet-powered aircraft.<br />
October 3: Germany’s liquid-fueled V–2, the world’s first large operational<br />
ballistic missile, flew successfully for the first time.<br />
November 8: Operation TORCH, the Anglo-American invasion <strong>of</strong> North<br />
Africa, began with amphibious landings in Morocco and Algeria. Twelfth<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Force supported the invasion with troop-carrying C–47s <strong>of</strong> the 60th<br />
Troop Carrier Group and Spitfire fighters <strong>of</strong> the 31st Fighter Group.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Douglas C–47 Skytrain, derived from the DC–3 commercial airliner <strong>of</strong> the<br />
1930s, served the Army <strong>Air</strong> Forces during World War II and the <strong>Air</strong> Force for<br />
decades after the war.<br />
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