The 489th Bombardment Squadron in Corsica

1. 489th BS Insignia from B-25 at MAAM, 2. 340th BG Insignia from Q. Kaiser's A2 flight jacket (1944), 3. NASA space shuttle photo of Corsica, 4. 12th Air Force patch, 5. U.S. Army Air Corps Patch .


Operation Control of the 12th Tactical and 15th Strategic Air Forces are indicated in an Organizational Chart for some of the units of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces on January 1, 1944. This chart is from the five-volume set: The United States Army Air Forces in WWII.


12th Air Force Organization, January 1, 1944
Commander: Maj. Gen. John K. Cannon
Stations: Italy
XII Bomber Command
57th Bomb Wing *42nd Bomb Wing
47th BG (A-20) 17th BG (B-26)
+12th BG (B-25) ^319th BG (B-26)
310th BG (B-25) 320th BG (B-26)
340th BG (B-25)  
321st BG (B-25)  
57th FG (P-40) 325th FG (P-40)
79th FG (P-40) 1st FG (P-38)
XII Air Support Command
64th Fighter Wing
31st FG (Spitfires)
27th FBG (A-36)
86th FBG (A-36)
33rd FG (P-40)
324th FG (P-40)
111th TRS (P-51)
415th NFS (Beaufighters)
XII Fighter Command
62nd Fighter Wing 63rd Fighter Wing
81st FG (P-39) 52nd FG (Spitfires)
414th NFS (Beaus) #350th FG (P-39)
  417th NFS (Beaus)
   
 
   
   
XII Troop Carrier Command
51st Troop Carrier Wing 52nd Troop Carrier Wing
60th TCG (C-47) 61st TCG (C-47)
62nd TCG (C-47) 313th TCG (C-47)
64th TCG (C-47) 314th TCG (C-47)
316th TCG (C-47)
 
90th Photo Reconnaissance Wing
3rd Photo Recon Group (F-4)
5th Photo Recon Group (F-5)


*The 42nd Bomb Wing (B-26) was transfered to the 15th AF in Nov 1943 and back to the 12th AF in Jan 1944.
+The 12th BG (B-25s) moved to the 10th Air Force (India/Burma) in Feb 1944.
^The 319th BG converted to B-25s in Nov 1944.

#1st Lt. Raymond L. Knight was in the 350th FG when he destroyed many enemy aircraft on April 24-25, 1945. Knight was killed when his damaged plane crashed in the Apennines returning from the mission. Lt. Knight was the only medal of honor recipient from the 12th AF in WWII who was honored for his heroics in the air. Ironically, the other two 12th Air Force recipients of the medal of honor- Major Pierpont Hamilton and Colonel Demas Craw, were both honored for their heroics on the ground during Operation Torch at Port Lyautey, French Morocco.

The above 12th Air Force organizational information is taken from the USAAF Film
"The Story of the 12th Air Force."


Excerpt from12th AF Film Footage about 57th Fighter Group P-47s on Corsica and organization in April, 1944.




Organization of MAAF in September 1944. From a French aviation magazine article. Courtesy Roger Juglair and Philippe Ballarini.
Mediterranean Allied Air Force Organization in September 1944. This chart from a French aviaition magazine article provided by Roger Juglair and Philippe Ballarini shows some of the American, French and British groups in the MAAF. Many groups in the MAAF are not shown in this chart. The Mediterranean Allied Photographic Reconnaissance Wing (MAPRW) under the command of president Franklin D. Roosevelt's son, Lt. Col. Elliot Roosevelt, had been conducting photographic surveys in preparation of the August 15, 1944 invasion of southern France- Operation Dragoon. Here is an excellent historical summary of the MAPRW Reconnaissance.


French AF groups in August 1944 just prior to Operation Dragoon.
This list shows the French AF units just before the Allied invasion of Southern France- Operation Dragoon- on August 15, 1944. It is from the same magazine article as the MAAF chart shown above and provided by Roger Juglair and Philippe Ballarini.


French AF groups in May, 1945.
These are the French AF groups at the end of the war in Europe in May, 1945. The table is from the article provided by Roger Juglair and Philippe Ballarini.

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