99TH SQUADRON

By February 1943, it seemed that the 99th would enter combat. The ground crew and pilots were given intensive training in combat tactics and were told to grasp the concepts as fast as possible. But they still sat around when white cadets were being sent over to Europe only after five weeks of training. Finally on April 2, the 99th gave farewell and boarded the evacuation train, the beginning of their long trip to Morocco, North Africa. Their trip ended in a small town called Fez. On May 1, 1943, they then moved to a new station in Fardjouna where they entered into their last phase of fighting. The pilots were attached to the 33rd Fight Group. They were finally "being integrated into the great fighting machine that was taking the battle to the enemy" (Francis 33). Pilots of the 99th Squadron.
Pilots of the 99th Squadron.
From Double V: the Civil Rights Struggle of the Tuskegee Airmen

The 99th Squadron's first assignment of combat was a strafing mission against the heavily fortified island of Pantelleria. On their seventh flight to Pantelleria, enemy aircraft finally attacked them. Because of the continuous fire on the island, the Italians surrendered on June 11. The 99th then moved to the island of Sicily where they were assigned to escort bombers to the western sector of Sicily. They won their first aerial victory when a Focke Wulf 190 was shot down. General Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the base and said, "I would like to meet the pilot who shot down the Jerry" (41). Although they were facing enemy aircraft, the bulk of the action was farther away. The 99th Squadron was purposely kept in Sicily as escorts. There were reports by some army officials who did not thing the 99th was fighting courageously. Others knew they were fighting better than most squadrons but where stuck in a circle where they opportunities to win victories was minimal. The 99th was then moved to Foggia. When they moved to Foggia to join the 79th, they had a better reception. The Commander was fair minded and a partial leader. He integrated the two to fly together and the Commander himself flew with the 99th. The two averaged 36 to 48 sorties a day and they gained three more victories on February 7, 1944.

Plans were then made for a full out offensive against the enemy during fighting in Cassino. Operation Strangle July 2, 1944, the 99th squadron flew for the last time as a separate unit. They were to integrate the 332nd Fighter Group in Rametelli.

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