Expansion: From the 99th Pursuit Squadron to the 332nd Fighter Group
After Operation Corkscrew, the 99th flew in support of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily in July of 1943. Once airfields were secured in Sicily, the black flyers relocated from North Africa to that island, then flew in support of the Allied invasion of Italy that September. The 99th was then tasked with providing close air support to the US 5th Army during some of its major operations, such as the capture of Foggia and its vital airfields, and the amphibious Anzio landings. Attached to the 79th Fighter Group, the black flyers of the 99th saw significant action as one of eight fighter squadrons defending the Anzio beachhead from German aerial attacks.
On January 27th to 28th, 1944, the eight squadrons defending Anzio collectively shot down 32 German airplanes, with the 99th claiming the highest score among them, with 13 kills. The following week, the 99th was assigned to the Twelfth Air Force and tasked with protecting harbors, escorting convoys, and flying armed reconnaissance missions. The 99th also provided close air support to the French and Polish armies during their assault on Monte Cassino in May of 1944. The unit distinguished itself in the latter engagement, first surprising and devastating German infantry massing for a counterattack, then bombing and strafing a nearby strongpoint, forcing its surrender to French colonial troops. That performance earned the 99th its second Distinguished Unit Citation.
In the meantime, the training base in Tuskegee kept producing more black aviators, and by February of 1944, there were three all black fighter squadrons ready and waiting in the US: the 100th, 301st, and 302nd. The units were shipped to North Africa, where they were combined into the all-black 332nd Fighter Group. The new group with its novice squadrons was then shipped to Italy, where it was joined by the now-veteran 99th Pursuit Squadron in June of 1944.
The Tuskegee Airmen initially flew P-40s, then were switched to Bell P-39 Airacobras in March of 1944, and upgraded to P-47 Thunderbolts in June. They were finally equipped in July of 1944 with the airplane with which they became most associated, the P-51 Mustang. Operating out of Ramitelli Airfield in the city of Campomarino on the Adriatic coast, the 332d Fighter Group was tasked with escorting the Fifteenth Air Force’s heavy bombers.
From then until war’s end, the Tuskegee airmen accompanied the Fifteenth Air Force’s bombers on strategic raids. The black flyers flew cover on missions targeting oil refineries, marshalling yards, factories, and airfields, that took them to Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Germany, and Poland. The 332nd earned an impressive combat record while escorting the heavy bombers, whose crews referred to the black flyers as “Red Tails” or “Red Tail Angels” because of the distinctive red paint the unit used on its airplanes’ tails. They earned another nickname from their opponents: “Schwarze Vogelmenschen“, or ”Black Birdmen”.