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Last updated 19 October 2004 |
1. On 16 June 1942 the War Department created within the Africa-Middle East Theater, which had been designated by the CCS as an area of British strategic responsibility, two commands: U. S. Army Forces in the Middle East and U. S. Army Forces in Central Africa. USAFIME was by far the larger and in terms of proximity to critical military operations, more important command.
2. General Maxwell had been serving as head of the U. S. Military Mission in Africa, with headquarters at Cairo, Egypt since the fall of 1941.
3. Upon the departure of General Andrews for his new assignment in ETO on 31 January 1943, Maj. Gen. L. H. Brereton, in accordance with previous War Department instructions, assumed command as CG, USAFIME. General Brereton had been designated commander of the Middle East Air Force (later 9th Air Force) in June 1942.
4. USAFICA, established at the same time as USAFIME, was the U. S. Army command assigned responsibility for the area of the trans-African air ferry route.
5. General Fitzgerald was concurrently Commanding General, African-Middle Eastern Wing, AAF Ferrying Command. In the latter part of June 1942 Brig. Gen. Percy L. Sadler served briefly as CG, USAFICA. On 4 September 1943 the War Department dissolved USAFICA, the defense of the trans-African air ferry route being no longer critical, and placed the area it had covered under USAFIME.
6. PGC was set up as a separate command directly under the War Department effective 10 December 1943. General Connolly, who had been serving as commander of the Persian Gulf Service Command (PGSC) since 20 October 1942 became CG, PGC. PGSC, a service subcommand in USAFIME, had been set up on 13 August 1942. PGSC was a redesignation of the Iran-Iraq Service Command, activated 24 June 1942, which in turn was a redesignation of the U. S. Military Iranian Mission. The U. S. Army had accepted the responsibility for developing and operating transportation and port facilities in the Persian Corridor to expedite lend-lease to the USSR, as outlined in CCS 109/1, 22 September 1942. Between 24 June 1942 and 10 December 1943 the American organization in the Persian Corridor was within the jurisdiction of USAFIME. PGSC was largely autonomous in fact, although it was not until December 1943 that PGSC, designated as PGC, became an autonomous command in name as well as in fact. PGC ceased to be a separate command on 1 October 1945, when it was again designated PGSC and placed under USAFAMET. Its operations ceased in December 1945.
7. The War Department redesignated the Middle East theater as the Africa-Middle East theater with new boundaries, effective 1 March 1945. The mission and boundaries of the Africa-Middle East theater were redefined by the War Department 20 November 1945. The War Department issued orders inactivating the Africa-Middle East theater, effective 31 May 1946.
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Last updated 19 October 2004 |