In Egypt during January 1943, IX Fighter Command became the control organization forNinth Air Force fighter units assigned to theWestern Desert Campaign (Libya and Tunisia).
IX Fighter Command moved to England in November 1943 as part of Normandy invasion planning. Its subordinate units were reassigned to theTwelfth Air Force.
During the winter of 1943/44 IX Fighter Command expanded at an extraordinary rate so that by the end of May 1944, its complement ran to 45 flying groups operating some 5,000 aircraft. Initial missions from England consisted of fighter sweeps over troop concentrations and attacks on enemy positions and airfields, primarily on German15th Army units in thePas-de-Calais region of France as well as aroundNormandy andCotentin Peninsula. OnD-Day IX Fighter Command units carried out massive air attacks on German forces in Normandy area withNorth American P-51 Mustang andRepublic P-47 Thunderboltfighter bombers. Air cover during the morning amphibious assault by Allied forces on the beaches of France was flown byLockheed P-38 Lightnings.
With the beaches secure, groups began deploying to France on 16 June 1944, ten days after the Normandy invasion by moving P-47 Thunderbolts to a beach-head landing strip. During the Battle of Normandy, its tactical air units then provided the air power for the Allied break-out from the Normandy beachhead in the summer of 1944 during theBattle of Cherbourg,Battle for Caen, and the ultimate breakout from the beachhead,Operation Cobra.
Captain Edwin O. Fisher, 362d Fighter Group, 7 aerial victories; 3 V-1 Flying Bombs; 25 enemy vehicles and 5 locomotives.
By early August most IX Fighter Command groups moved to bases in France and were assigned to missions supporting theTwelfth United States Army Group. The command then reorganized, with units transferred to three tactical air commands and which directly supportedUnited States Army ground units, along with an air defense command to defend Allied-controlled areas.
After its units were reassigned, it remained active until afterVE-Day when performed occupation duty in Germany. It was inactivated in November 1945.
In 1947, when the United States Air Force (USAF) became independent, the Army transferred all Army Air Forces, Air Service and Air Corps units (there were a number of Air Corps units that had never been in the Army Air Forces, and a few Air Service units) to the USAF. A year later, the newly forming USAF permanently disbanded the command.
8th Fighter Wing: assigned 24 July – 22 December 1942 (attached to 3d Fighter Command (laterIII Fighter Command)) 26 July – c. 28 October 1942; attached 22 December 1942 – c. April 1943[3]
79th Fighter Group: 24 February – 22 August 1943 (attached toNo. 7 (South African) Wing – c. 2 June 1943; XII Air Support Command – c. 14 June 1943; No. 7 (South African) Wing – c. 21 August 1943)[5]
324th Fighter Group, 23 December 1942 – 1 August 1943, (attached to Western Desert Air Force, 23 December 1942; Desert Air Force, c. April–1 August 1943)
100th Fighter Wing: 27 November – 12 December 1943; 4 January − 1 February 1944; 1 March − 15 April 1944 (remained under operational control until 31 July 1944)[6]
6th Air Support Communications Squadron (later 6th Tactical Air Communications Squadron): 30 December 1943 – 31 January 1944; 1 December 1944 – 1 July 1945 (attached to XXIX Tactical Air Command [Provisional])[13]
United States
United States Army (1942-47)
United States Air Force (1947-48)
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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