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The Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) was the second-largest user of the B-17 Flying Fortress during World War II. There were a total of six combat groups (twenty-four squadrons) equipped with the bomber assigned to the Theater. ==Overview== Initially equipped with the B-17F Fortress, two bombardment groups (97th and 301st) were flown from airfields in England to Algiers and Oran in Algeria in November 1942 after the Operation Torch landings. They were assigned to the 5th Bombardment Wing, XII Bomber Command, Twelfth Air Force.〔 The initial two combat groups were joined in February 1943 by the 99th and in April 1943 by the 2d Bombardment Groups, which arrived from the United States. These heavy bomber units supported the American Fifth Army as it drove west into Tunisia during the North African Campaign. Initial targets were enemy positions in Tunisia, Sicily, Italy and islands in the Mediterranean Sea.〔 On 1 November 1943, Twelfth Air Force became a tactical organization of fighters and medium bombers. Its heavy bombardment units (B-17 and B-24 Liberator) were joined with those of Ninth Air Force which had been based in Libya and which was moving without personnel or equipment to England. The combined heavy bomber forces were designated as Fifteenth Air Force, with all B-17 groups remaining assigned to the 5th Bombardment Wing. Fifteenth Air Force's mission was to carry out long distance bombardment missions against enemy targets in Southern and Central Europe. The groups were also upgraded to the B-17G Fortress in late 1943, and were moved to newly captured airfields in the Foggia area of Southern Italy. In Italy two new B-17 groups, the 463d and 483d Bombardment Groups arrived from Third Air Force training airfields in the Southeastern United States in the spring of 1944 to reinforce the command.〔 From their bases in Southern Italy, the Fortresses engaged in long-range strategic bombardment attacks against the enemy in the Balkans, Occupied Italy, Austria, Germany and France. Additionally, Fifteenth Air Force B-17s joined with Eighth Air Force B-17s as part of Operation Frantic, the shuttle bombing raids against targets on the Eastern Front, landing at Poltava Airfield (AAF-559) in the Soviet Union during the spring of 1944.〔 Fifteenth Air Force, along with its B-17 units were inactivated after the German Capitulation in May 1945.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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