Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

AIR SUPERIORITY
missing, while they claimed to have shot down 84 enemy planes.73 Between
April 10 and 16 Allied aircraft flew 5 1 major missions, dropping 2,421,520
pounds of bombs on enemy targets in the central Mediterranean and Tunisia,
but claimed to have destroyed in the air alone, 134 enemy aircraft. The
highlight of this week was the mission carried out by 24 B-17s on April 10
against the Italian naval base at La Maddalena on Sardinia, during which
the Italian cruiser Trieste was sunk and the cruiser Gorizia was damaged.
During this week, with the exception of some reconnaissance flights and
minor attacks on Allied shipping and ground forces, the greater part of the
enemy’s air forces were deployed on purely defensive missions. Allied air
power had the Axis air forces distinctly on the defensive on the eve of the
final Allied offensive in Tunisia.74
The offensive that would destroy remaining Axis forces in North
Africa, code-named VULCAN, was scheduled to begin on April 22. Coningham
began preparations on April 14 by issuing a directive for the employment
of fighter aircraft in Tunisia. Tunisia was divided into two regions
for purposes of fighter aircraft control, one under the command of the
Western Desert Air Force and the other by the 242 Group, with the aircraft
of the XI1 Air Support Command controlled by 242 Group’s operations
room. Allied radar was established to cover all the air space over both
Allied and Axis held areas in Tunisia. Information of enemy aircraft movements
obtained by this radar network was forwarded to the 242 Group
operations room and the Western Desert Air Force so that the movement
of both enemy and Allied aircraft could be closely monitored throughout
the offensive.75
Operational orders for VULCAN were issued on April 16. The main land
assault to capture Tunis would be made by the British First Army, which
was reinforced by transferring the British X Corps from the British Eighth
Army. The British First Army would attack northeast from the Medjez
salient. The U.S. I1 Corps would take Bizerta and the region north of
Mateur, between the northern flank of the British First Army and the
sea. The French XIX Corps would attack along the southeastern flank of
the British First Army, and the British Eighth Army, whose front was the
area between the French XIX Corps and the Tunisian east coast, would
have a “divisionary [sic] and containing role” in VULCAN. The British
Eighth Army would attack the enemy in the Enfidaville region before the
main Allied attack by the British First Army, and attempt to draw Axis
forces away from the objectives of the British First Army and the U.S. I1
At the same time as the plan for the Allied ground forces was presented,
Coningham issued a directive for the conduct of tactical air operations
during VULCAN. Phase one of the air plan called for the aircraft of the
Northwest African Air Forces to begin an all out assault, day and night, on
April 18 against all enemy airfields in Tunisia. The Northwest African Stra-
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