One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University

1943
October 7: The 422d Bombardment Squadron began special operations
from the United Kingdom with a four-aircraft leaflet-dropping mission
over Paris at night.
October 14: Eighth Air Force raided Schweinfurt, Germany, and its ballbearing
plants for the second time. Of some 230 attacking heavy
bombers, 60 were lost to fighter interceptors and flak, and 138 more
were damaged, causing the Eighth to temporarily discontinue daylight
bombing of targets deep in Germany.
October 16: Ninth Air Force, which had led U.S. tactical air missions in
North Africa and the Mediterranean, moved to England to prepare for
the invasion of France.
November 1: Fifteenth Air Force activated at Tunis, Tunisia, for the strategic
bombardment of enemy targets in Europe, first from bases in
North Africa and later from Italy. Maj. Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle
served as its first commander.
November 2: Fifteenth Air Force flew its first mission, sending more than 112
B–17s and B–24s against targets in the Wiener Neustadt area of Austria.
November 13: Fifty-seven B–24s and 62 B–25s bombed airfields at Alexishafen
and Madang in the heaviest Allied air raid on New Guinea.
December 5: Pilots of Ninth Air Force’s 354th Fighter Group flew their new
P–51s for the first time into combat, escorting Eighth Air Force B–17
bombers for a record distance of 490 miles to targets in northern Germany.
The fast and maneuverable aircraft, equipped with fuel tanks
that allowed them to accompany the bombers all the way to the target,
sharply reduced bomber losses to enemy fighters.
The North American P–51 Mustang was the fastest U.S. fighter in World War II
and gained fame as a long-range bomber escort.
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