This paper analyzes the operations of the Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean theater from 1943 to 1944, specifically targeting the three Allied amphibious operations in Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio, Italy. These Allied landings illustrate a wide range of tactical and operational innovations, doctrine, and coalition air warfare. In the interwar years, the Army Air Corps (AAC) gave virtually no thought to supporting amphibious operations. Yet, before the end of World War II, doctrine would be developed for such operations.

Amphibious assaults are the most complex of all military operations to execute, demanding detailed coordination and planning between the Army...

The first major offensive against the Axis forces conducted by American and British troops occurred on 8 November 1942 in French North Africa. During Operation Torch over 95,000 Allied forces landed in Algeria and Morocco compelling the Vichy French to sign an armistice and support the Allied coalition.¹ The rapid reinforcement of German forces from Italy to Tunisia would soon overshadow the initial success of Torch. The stage was set for a bloody campaign in which Allied commanders were to learn valuable lessons that would be applicable throughout the war.

Operation Torch and the eventual Allied victory in Tunisia were...

On 10 July 1943 Allied forces carried out an amphibious assault on the Italian island of Sicily. Operation Husky would serve as a stepping-stone for the invasion of mainland Italy and its elimination from the war. The operation provided the Allies with secure sea lanes of communication in the Mediterranean Sea for future operations in Italy and Southern France, relieved Axis pressure on the Soviet Union by causing the Germans to reassign units on the eastern front to Italy, and increased pressure on the Italian government to surrender.¹ The US Seventh and British Eighth Armies landed along the southeastern coast...

The success of Husky opened the door for the Allies to invade Italy and caused Germany to shift forces from Western Europe and Russia to defend against the Allied offensive in the Mediterranean. With the collapse of the Vichy French in North Africa and the surrender of Italy, Germany was compelled to fight the war alone on multiple fronts with decreasing resources. On 9 September 1943 a combined British and American Task Force, commanded by Lt Gen Mark Clark, conducted an amphibious assault, landing south of Naples, Italy, on the beaches of Salerno Bay. Operation Avalanche allowed the Allies to...

With the successful completion of Avalanche, Allied forces advanced on the capital city of Rome. The capture of Rome, seen as an important psychological blow to the Germans, would be the first Axis capital to fall into Allied hands.¹ Field Marshal Alfred Kesselring, commander of German forces in Italy, recognized the intentions of the Allied forces, and in an effort to prevent the capture of Rome, ordered the construction of a heavily fortified defensive line south of Rome. The Gustav Line, designated by Kesselring, consisted of concrete bunkers built into the mountainous terrain, with hundreds of mutually supporting machine-gun positions...

The Mediterranean theater of operation proved to be a testing ground for American Airmen in the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures for the employment of airpower in a combat environment. The airground operations conducted in the Mediterranean theater yielded some of the same lessons experienced earlier by Allied forces fighting on New Guinea in July 1942. Additional lessons learned over the skies of the Mediterranean (in coordination with the ground commanders) yielded positive results that benefited Allied airmen and soldiers landing in Normandy and southern France.

The Twelfth Air Force (activated for only three months) deployed to North Africa...