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Constituted as XII Ground Air Support Command on 10 Sep 1942 and activated on 17 Sep. Assigned to Twelfth AF. Redesignated XII Air Support Command in Sep 1942, and XII Tactical Air Command in Apr 1944. Moved to North Africa, Oct-Nov 1942. Col Demas T Craw was awarded the Medal of Honor for action during the invasion of Algeria-French Morocco: when the Allies landed on 8 Nov 1942, Col Craw volunteered to negotiate an armistice; while trying to pass through the lines near Port Lyautey, he was killed by machine-gun fire. The command served in combat in the Mediterranean and European theaters until May 1945. Afterward, remained in Europe as part of the occupation force. Inactivated in Germany on 10 Nov 1947. Disbanded on 8 Oct 1948.
Wings. 5th Bombardment: 1942. 7th Fighter: 1942. 42d Bombardment: 1945. 57th Bombardment: 1943-1944. 63d Fighter: 1945. 64th Fighter (formerly 3d Air Defense): 1943-1944, 1945-1947. 70th Fighter: 1945-1947. 71st Fighter: 1945. 87th Fighter: 1944.
Stations. Birmingham, Ala, 17 Sep 1942; Bolling Field, DC, 25 Sep-18 Oct 1942; French Morocco, 9 Nov 1942; Algeria, Jan 1943; Tunisia, 13 Mar 1943; Sicily, c. 12 Jul 1943; Italy, c. 9 Sep 1943; France, 18 Aug 1944; Germany, 27 Mar 1945; Erlangen, Germany, Jul 1945; Bad Kissingen, Germany, 1 Nov 1945-10 Nov 1947.
Commanders. Col Rosenham Beam, 18 Sep 1942; Brig Gen John K Cannon, 22 Sep 1942; Col Rosenham Beam, c. 30 Dec 1942; Col Peter S Rask, 1 Jan 1943; Brig Gen Howard A Craig, 10 Jan 1943; Brig Gen Paul L Williams, 24 Jan 1943; Brig Gen John K Cannon, 12 May 1943; Col Lawrence P Hickey, 24 May 1943; Maj Gen Edwin J House, 13 Jun 1943; Brig Gen Gordon P Seville, 2 Feb 1944; Brig Gen Glenn O Barcus, 29 Jan 1945; Maj Gen William E Kepner, 3 Dec 1945; Brig Gen Glenn O Barcus, 9 Jan 1946; Brig Gen John F McBlain, 3 Aug 1946; Maj Gen Robert LeG Walsh, 27 Nov 1946; Brig Gen James M Fitzmaurice, 1 Apr-c. Oct 1947.
Campaigns. Air Combat, EAME Theater; Algeria-French Morocco; Tunisia; Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Anzio; Rome-Arno; Northern France; Southern France; North Apennines; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe.
Decorations. None.
Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986
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Historical Artifacts: We are looking for photos, documents and other types of artifacts including uniforms, medals, insignia, gear, manuals, and training material. We accept electronic/scans or originals of pictures and paper records. A General Order could be an award document that contains information on many servicemen. Special Orders may contain transfers or other information. Flight records, accident reports, maintenance logs, after action reports, pilot encounter reports, diaries and biorgraphies; all of these types of documents help us support or mission: preserving your history! Contact us today for instructions on sending us this material. Contact Today
Are you an AAC, AAF or USAF Veteran, family member, historian or WW2 enthusiast? We Need YOU! Contact us today to see how you can help the Army Air Corps Library and Museum, a Texas Not-For-Profit Corporation. We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks. Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one. We also need assistance with retyping unit history documents.
