<text id=00he0608><title>Meesgae for the Axis</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>Meesgae for the Axis</hdr><body>
<p>The HALPRO and Doolittle raids were symbols, and they were messages to the Japanese that the United States had not been defeated at Pearl Harbor. Those missions also were apart from the main thrust of the USAAF strategy. Bolero was still the primary objective, and all forces were building toward that mission as a first priority. There were to be no other ground operations in Europe or North Africa before that landing in France, except in the case of a severe emergency.
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<p>Knowing that the Pacific arena was also a scene of heavy action, a military decision was made to send whatever force was available to that region to deal with crises.
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<p>Churchill, who never saw much beyond the immediate needs of the British Empire, pushed for an invasion of North Africa, to take pressure off his armies there. It would be easy, he argued, and would not delay the build-up towards Bolero. His arguments convinced Roosevelt, who agreed that the United States would land a force in North Africa before the end of July 1942.
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<p>By mid-1942, the 8AF had just begun to establish its administrative echelons in England, and was in no position to send any of its planes or crews on any substantial missions against the continent. Only a handful of American airmen and their planes had arrived, and the closest to combat was the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Separate), training on Douglas A-20s (Boston IIIs) with 226 Squadron, RAF, at Swanton Morley. A crew from the 15th became the first USAAF airmen to fly from England against continental targets. On 25 June 1942, squadron commander Captain Charles C. Kegelman borrowed one of the Boston IIIs and, with his crew, joined a gaggle of 226 Squadron's planes on a low-level raid against railroad yards at Hazebrouck in northern France.
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<p>For publicity purposes, the first 'official' combat sortie by 8AF crews had been scheduled for 4 July, America's holiday of lndependence Day. Six Boston IIIs carried Kegelman's crew and five others, again in company with a number of planes from 226 Squadron. They hit four airfields in the Netherlands. Kegelman's aircraft was slammed by anti-aircraft fire and damaged badly, but he brought it back. It was a small beginning.
