Formed in the United Kingdom during 1943 as theIX Air Support Command, its primary role was to provideclose air support for theU.S. First Army. Re-designated as theIX Tactical Air Command in April 1944, its initial missions included interdicting transportation, disrupting communications and destroying warehouses and supply dumps in occupied France and the Low Countries in preparation for theNormandy Invasion in June. Targets included bridges, road junctions, railroads, airfields, radio towers and telephone exchanges. Engaging enemy aircraft in the air and establishing air superiority was another priority.
After theNormandy landings on 6 June 1944, IX Tactical Air CommandRepublic P-47 Thunderbolts concentrated on enemy targets in theCotentin Peninsula area and afterward supportedOperation Cobra, the breakout of Normandy. Paying particular attention to German forces in theFalaise-Argentan Gap, targets were expanded to include tanks, vehicles of all types and troop formations. Many times targets of opportunity on the ground were spontaneously attacked when spotted. Coordinated attacks were made with Allied ground forces, especially when they were being held up by strong defenses. Thunderbolts dropped bombs at low level, made rocket attacks and strafed enemy positions with demoralizing effect.
Wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and temporaryAdvanced Landing Grounds. Moving into north-central France, its groups attacked enemy targets nearParis and then concentrated its activity north-west across Belgium and into the southern Netherlands. In December 1944 and January 1945 it engaged targets on the north flank of theBattle of the Bulge, then concentrated eastward into the NorthernRhineland as part of theWestern Allied invasion of Germany.
The First Army was closely supported as it crossed theRhine River atRemagen after which attacks were made on ground targets in theRuhr district where air support was given to Allied forces that had encircled a large concentration of German troops in theRuhr Pocket. That operation essentially ended organized enemy resistance in western Germany. The First Army halted its advance at theElbe River in late April 1945 after which the wing engaged targets of opportunity in enemy-controlled areas until the fighting ended on 5 May 1945.
The IX Tactical Air Command remained in Europe after the war as part ofUnited States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), performingoccupation duty and the destruction or shipment to the United States of captured enemy combat equipment. Assigned units also performedair defense duty over theAmerican Zone of Occupation. It returned to the United States and was inactivated during October 1945.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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