The Battle of Britain

Air War Over North Africa

Douglas Boston light bombers of No. 24 Squadron, South African Air Force, flying low over the Tunisian desert, March 1943; Several South African fighter, bomber and reconnaissance squadrons operated during the North African campaign. No. 24 Squadron was the longest serving, having arrived from a deployment in East Africa in May 1941.

Douglas Boston light bombers of No. 24 Squadron, South African Air Force, flying low over the Tunisian desert, March 1943

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Several South African fighter, bomber and reconnaissance squadrons operated during the North African campaign. No. 24 Squadron was the longest serving, having arrived from a deployment in East Africa in May 1941.

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When war commenced in North Africa in June 1940, Air Headquarters Egypt immediately mounted bombing sorties against Italian targets in Cyrenaica and helped repel the Italian offensive into Egypt.

The RAF was initially under-strength and...

When war commenced in North Africa in June 1940, Air Headquarters Egypt immediately mounted bombing sorties against Italian targets in Cyrenaica and helped repel the Italian offensive into Egypt.

The RAF was initially under-strength and equipped with the obsolete Gladiator and Blenheim until modern aircraft began to arrive in Egypt. In 1941 units were diverted to Greece and, in Libya, German air and ground forces pushed the weakened British back. During the Desert Campaigns of 1941-1942, the RAF provided essential battlefield support to the often-beleaguered ground forces, attacking enemy armour and supply lines despite extremely difficult operating conditions.

In October 1941, to achieve closer air-ground co-operation, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, commanding RAF Middle East, oversaw the formation of the Western Desert Air Force (WDAF). Its Commander, Air Vice-Marshal Arthur Coningham, developed a mobile, highly effective tactical air force, which in August 1942 began to receive modern fighters capable of competing with the Luftwaffe for air superiority.

By November, the WDAF comprised 29 British, Australian and South African squadrons which, augmented by other Allied units, were able to offer overwhelming air support to the 8th Army's offensive at El Alamein.

With Operation 'Torch' in December 1942, more squadrons arrived to pressurise Axis forces, while, in Tunisia, the WDAF helped the 8th Army to outflank the Mareth Line defences.

Finally, before the Axis surrender on 12 May 1943, Allied fighters shot down scores of German transport aircraft attempting to evacuate their trapped forces from the dwindling Tunis bridgehead.

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  • Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur 'Mary' Coningham

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    Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur 'Mary' Coningham; A portrait by Cecil Beaton of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur 'Mary' Coningham at his mobile headquarters in the desert. Under Coningham's aggressive leadership, the Western Desert Air Force perfected efficient co-operation with the ground forces. The aim was to achieve local air superiority and bring down concentrated tactical air power to bear where it was most needed. The methods became the blueprint for later Allied campaigns in Italy and north-west Europe.

  • Gloster Gladiator pilots of No. 3 Squadron

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    Gloster Gladiator pilots of No. 3 Squadron; Gloster Gladiator pilots of No. 3 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, at Gerawala in Egypt, following a dogfight with Italian Fiat CR 42 biplanes on 19 November 1940. Flying Officer Alan Rawlinson (left) shot down one Italian fighter, Flight Lieutenant Blake Pelly (centre) claimed two 'probables' and Flying Officer Alan Boyd destroyed two more during the engagement. The venerable Gladiator was the RAF's last biplane fighter and enjoyed a brief period of success against the Italians during the early months of the North African campaign before being replaced by more modern types.

  • A Hawker Hurricane of No. 274 Squadron, October 1940

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    A Hawker Hurricane of No. 274 Squadron, October 1940; No. 274 Squadron was the first all-Hurricane unit in the Middle East. The type soon became the principle RAF fighter in the region, with eight squadrons available by the time of Operation 'Crusader', the Eighth Army's large-scale offensive in November 1941. Hurricanes easily outclassed Italian types, but met their match with the arrival of the Luftwaffe in April 1941, and in particular the sleek Messerschmitt Bf 109F later in the year.

  • German transport column under strafing attack

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    German transport column under strafing attack; A German transport column under strafing attack by a Blenheim Mk IV of No. 113 Squadron, 26 October 1941. Rommel's supply line, stretched out along the solitary road which hugged the North African coast, was acutely vulnerable to air attack. The Desert Air Force exacted a heavy toll of transport vehicles in this featureless landscape.

  • No. 39 Squadron crew returning from a photo reconnaissance sortie

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    No. 39 Squadron crew returning from a photo reconnaissance sortie; A No. 39 Squadron crew remove the film from an F.24 camera after returning from a photo reconnaissance sortie over Axis territory, 1941. No. 39 Squadron flew strategic reconnaissance missions over the desert in their American-built Martin Maryland bombers until the autumn, when they converted to Bristol Beauforts and an anti-shipping role.

  • A Martin Maryland of No. 21 Squadron

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    A Martin Maryland of No. 21 Squadron; A Martin Maryland of No. 21 Squadron, South African Air Force, bombing tanks and vehicles of the Afrika Korps near Sidi Rezegh, 6 December 1941. The German armour was massing for an assault on British positions at Bir el Gubi during the closing phase of Operation 'Crusader' - the relief of Tobruk. German airfields also received a pounding during this offensive, in an effort to wrest air superiority from the Luftwaffe.

  • A Vickers Wellington Mk II of No. 104 Squadron

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    A Vickers Wellington Mk II of No. 104 Squadron; A Vickers Wellington Mk II of No. 104 Squadron receives its load of 500 lb bombs prior to another bombing sortie, 1942. No. 104 Squadron was one of several heavy bomber units in No. 205 Group, separate from the WDAF and based in the Nile Delta, which operated at night against strategic Axis targets, notably the Libyan port of Benghazi. Towards the end of the campaign, the bombers flew from their Egyptian bases in support of the army in Tunisia.

  • Flight Lieutenant A R Costello

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    Flight Lieutenant A R Costello; Flight Lieutenant A R Costello of No. 112 Squadron poses with his Curtiss Kittyhawk at Sidi Heneish in Egypt, April 1942. If any aircraft came to symbolise the Desert Air Force it was the rugged, American-built P-40, known to the RAF as the Tomahawk and Kittyhawk. No. 112 Squadron famously decorated its aircraft with 'sharkmouth' nose art. Early versions lacked high-altitude performance, which made them vulnerable to the Messerschmitt Bf 109F, but the Kittyhawk went on to become an effective ground attack aircraft.

  • Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vbs of No. 417 Squadron

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    Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vbs of No. 417 Squadron; Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vbs of No. 417 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, flying over Tunisia on an escort mission, April 1943. No. 417 Squadron arrived in Egypt in June 1942 but spent the rest of the year on defensive patrols over the Nile Delta. In April 1943, the squadron began operations with 244 Wing of the Desert Air Force during the closing stages of the Tunisian campaign, often flying escort to Kittyhawk fighter bombers. Its baptism of fire was a hard one, as five pilots were killed within two weeks of commencing operations.

  • No. 223 Squadron crews are briefed by their commanding officer

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    No. 223 Squadron crews are briefed by their commanding officer; No. 223 Squadron crews are briefed by their commanding officer, Wing Commander Peter le Cheminant, in front of one of their Martin Baltimore bombers at La Fauconnerie in Tunisia, May 1943. On 12 May 1943, 18 Baltimores of Nos. 223 and 55 Squadrons took part in the last bombing raid of the North African campaign, against enemy troops dug in at Bou Ficha. Allied air power was now overwhelming, and over the next two days German forces in Tunisia surrendered.