HISTORY

Fred M. Dean led the 31st FG from December 1942 to July 1943,

and is seen here after the war. He rose to the rank

of Lieutenant General.

run up and plane check out during the time the

field was being strafed.”

Living conditions were quite primitive compared to what the unit was used to, as one pilot

wrote: “We took over [the 33rd FG] troop housing area, which consisted of some dugouts

with shelter halves for roofing for the officers,

while the enlisted men lived under their pup

tents.” The men soon adapted to underground

living in their housing area some distance from

the airfield. A radioman with the Group HQ recalled his very basic living arrangements:

“It was really a small cut out on the side

of a hill, with a roof on it. It was better than

a pup tent. We found some straw and stuffed

a mattress cover full. This beat sleeping on the

ground, but the straw had camel fleas.”

The men would have to quickly adjust to this

new situation, because despite the hardships,

their Spitfire Mk. Vs would soon be sent out on

operations.

During its early days at Thelepte, the 31st

FG would operate alongside various USAAF

units based at Thelepte and Youks-les-Bains

(about 75 kilometres north-west of Thelepte,

in eastern Algeria). This included the Douglas

A-20 bombers of the 47th BG, French P-40s of

Groupe de Chasse II/5, and the Bell P-39s of

the 154th OS/68th OG, the 346th FS/350th FG,

and the 81st FG. The XII Air Support Command

was still developing its tactics at this stage,

and learned lessons every day about how best

to conduct combat operations in support of

American and Allied ground forces.

The land fighting had see-sawed in the central Tunisian mountains in January and early

February 1943, as the Americans and their

French allies battled with the Germans and

Italians. When the 31st FG got to the front, both

armies were building up forces for a future

offensive.

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Portrait of Capt. James A. Isbell, Jr., of the 309th

FS/31st FG. He flew five missions between 8 and

11 February 1943.

Across the mountains from Thelepte was the

German air base at Kairouan, where the combat veterans of II./JG 2 were based, including

aces Kurt Bühligen (53 victories at this time),

Erich Rudorffer (54 victories) and Kurt Goltzsch (eighteen victories). Those Luftwaffe

fighter pilots with their FW 190s were deadly

opponents for the inexperienced Americans.

Aside from the Luftwaffe fighters, also operating over central Tunisia were some German long-range reconnaissance units, which

dispatched daily sorties with their Junkers

88s. The 31st FG pilots believed that the FW

190 had the advantage over the Spitfire Mk. V

in many respects, as J.D. Collinsworth stated:

“The Spitfire Mk. V could only out-turn an FW

190. Other than that, [the FW 190] could fly faster, dive faster, climb higher.”

Into Action: 8 February 1943

After settling in at Thelepte, finally, the day

had come – the 31st FG was slated to return

to action. However, it was to be a quiet return.

24 patrol sorties were flown in the Thelepte

area, but the main excitement to occur during

those was when a lone Bf 109 was spotted in

the morning. However, it was “lost heading

east on the deck.” 22 Spitfires of the 308th and

309th FS/31st FG were sent out to escort the

47th BG to Faid towards midday, and they met

heavy and accurate anti-aircraft fire, although

all 31st FG aircraft and pilots returned to base

unscathed. The A-20 escort mission was repeated in the afternoon in clear skies, with the

CO of the 31st FG himself leading 24 Spitfire

Mk. VBs and VCs to the Faid Pass. Bombs were

seen to fall accurately on vehicles and troops,

and again, no Axis fighters were encountered.

American ground forces were grateful for the

air support, which they reported to be very

successful.

A charcoal portrait of Charles C. ‘Chuck’ Kenworthy

of the 309th FS/31st FG, done in the autumn of 1942.

Sitting in his dugout that evening, a relieved

31st FG pilot wrote in his diary about the absence of enemy ‘sneak raiders’ so far: “Jerry

still hasn’t paid us a visit.” To counter the expected raids, the three squadrons took turns

to provide airfield defence. At any one time,

four pilots would be airborne, four would be

at cockpit readiness, and four would be at ten

minutes’ readiness.

The American Spitfires really got into the

swing of things on 9 February, with six missions flown to escort P-39s on reconnaissance and strafing, the first taking off at 07:30,

and the last landing at 17:50. These missions

ranged from Faid in the north to Sened in

the south, but anti-aircraft fire was the main

enemy again: two Spitfires were damaged on

the first mission, while a P-39 was lost on the

third mission and several Spitfires were hit.

There was also a non-combat loss, when Lt.

Carl J. Woodrich of the 308th FS/31st FG “was

slightly burned and shaken up when gas fumes collected in his ship’s fuselage detonated

while he was starting.” He would be in hospital for a while.

The Luftwaffe sent a Sicily-based reconnaissance Ju 88 over central Tunisia in the morning, and the crew reported 40 single-engine

aircraft at Thelepte – if it had been a secret

before, the presence of the 31st FG at Thelepte

was now known to the Germans. The 308th

FS/31st FG was on airfield defence duties at

the time, but failed to intercept, as squadron

member Merrett C. Wolfe related: “although

we had ships in the air, they didn’t see him and

he got away. At that moment our ground radio

was out and we couldn’t contact the patrols.”

INFO Eduard - September 2021