Middle East Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1945, Cairo, Egypt                                Ii v sub Corn  Hoftke theater the changing missions is the United states in and Chan location and simplicity development be divided three Mair Al though it is important to note that was no Sharp division that phase b overlapped each place c gradually grew to importance As phase b Alexander and Montgomery v i phase the Supply and sup port of British ground and air Oroee operating from Middle East this starting before the United states was formally at involved the servicing and maintenance of american equip ment furnished to the British the operation of training schools to educate British troops in its use and maintenance and operation the handling and of supplies and equipment destined for the As ships arrived with their in the Early and indeed up through Al Alamein to the time Fetah r jew u Ewh Amy men and ninth air eggs from the inevitable arabs who though there were no the Long desert War British Force men could always scrounge d appear on Battle and airfields As such thing As the when the Allied landings in North Africa relieved the this work was carried out in an atmosphere of extreme urgency and since a Jojn its Success de Pended the entire Middle East de s the program4 involved necessarily the building of port and Ware House and Assembly installations of the improvement of roads and rail and the other essential concomitants to a military the ninth arrives before Al the contingencies eve present in the threat of successful German and Vance into made essential the planning of second line of depots in upper Egypt were including air bases and port chiefly at Mas Sawa in the emergency of this phase lasted roughly from the inception of american Effort in the autumn of 1941 through the end of phase the Supply and sup port of american air Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United states into the american pilots and ground organized in Small begun to appear in the Middle East to support the operations of the 8th army in conjunction with the units grew until on the june they were incorporated in the Middle East air under command of Lewis by the 12 the strength of mean had increased to a Point where it was predesignated the 9th this is an infantry unit of Montgomery famed eighth army in their trenches before the Battle of Alamein began in october 42 our ninth in increasing accompanied the desert rats from Here to jerrys final plunge into the med at Cape Mai photos United states air Bre Reton the 9th operated first from bases in Egypt and As the War reached from new bases hurriedly installed As close to the advancing front line As on 21 Tripoli was bombed for the first by 30 Andrews the 9th aah had an Overall strength of officers and on 15 it made its first attack on by the 9th was Able to put 140 v2is Over Plesti Oil Fields in its first six months of operation Cost 62 aircraft plus 4 which and come Down in Neutral countries and been the 9th supported the invasions of Sicily and Italy until the Chang ing emphasis of the in 101 rope led to its Transfer to leases in the United kingdom in the autumn of phase support and Supply of air transport As the actual combat zone moved away from North Africa into eur and As operations in India and China Frew in the work of the ferry and later of the air transport command became a primary con Cern of military operation in Africa and the Middle acts necessity the original necessity to deliver fighters and bombers to the British in Egypt had led to the develop ment of the Southern air route from the United via a ascension Roberts Field to Accia on the Gold coast across equatorial Africa via the intermediate Al and Elge Neina to Khartoum in the Anglo egyptian from Khartoum the planes Des tined for the Middle East flew North to lower Egypt bases for action in the Western later the same route was used for planes destined for India and these planes flew from Khartoum to thence followed the Southern coast of using the bases at a Lala and Madeira Island on their Way to the Western air port of to in the Early when it appeared Likely that Rommel would break through into the Delta and overrun both lower Egypt and the Suez canal thereby bringing the Southern route into bombing plans had to be made to provide against the conditions resulting from such a an alternative even far ther via Point in French equatorial Leopold Ville and Elizabethville in the Bel Gian to Nairobi in Kenya Colony and thence to Aden was improvement in the military situation made development of this route and work was stopped in prior to the entry of the United states into the work on Tho Brereton Tran Africa route from Accra Khartoum was handled by pan american operating under a civil following declaration of the work was taken Over by the army under the command known As United states army forces in Central Africa later under a Sakimk jurisdiction and predesignated the West african ser vice command continued on Page 3 briefing Tima for views or thu deserts life was like the on the l Usis