| Original caption: “Wings of War Over Ancient Egypt: United States Army Air Transport Command plane soaring majestically over Egypt’s pyramids is one of a fleet flying urgently needed war supplies over the Atlantic Ocean and continent of Africa to strategic battle zones.” Douglas C-47 Skytrain 41-18694 was delivered to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) on December 04, 1942. The aircraft joined the Africa-Middle East Wing of Air Transport Command (ATC) on May 29, 1943. The Skytrain was reassigned to North Africa Wing ATC on March 29, 1944. Later it was assigned to the 12th Air Force in Italy. 41-18694 crashed on March 25, 1945 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of Taza, Morocco. The usable parts of the wreck were sent to spares on April 12, 1945. With the extension of ATC activities into North Africa, the jurisdiction of the Africa-Middle East Wing was broadened to encompass these new operations. The Wing’s authority already spanned a territory of vast distances. From Accra on the west African coast to Karachi in India, the main air route extended nearly 6,000 miles, while auxiliary lines, exclusive of the now inactive Congo route (because of the Torch landings in November 1942), brought the total mileage to over 10,000. Nevertheless, General Harold L. George (July 19, 1893 – February 24, 1986), Commanding Officer of ATC, decided to maintain for the time being a unified command in this immense region, to insure flexibility in the utilization of equipment and manpower and in the routing of aircraft and supplies. As the North African operations of ATC advanced with General Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower’s (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) progress along the Mediterranean shore to Tunisia, a more decentralized control became necessary, but General George still held to the principle of a single unified command. Accordingly, in June 1943, 2 sectors were established within the Africa-Middle East Wing — the North African Sector, with direct control of operations north of Dakar, and the Central African Sector, which began at Accra and extended across the older African route to Cairo and beyond to Karachi. This sector organization remained in effect for 6 months, with several changes in boundary lines, the most important of which was the placing of Cairo and dependent stations farther east (all the way to Karachi) under the control of the North African Sector. This shift, which occurred in October, reflected the growing predominance of the Mediterranean coastal route to Cairo and India over the older route through Nigeria and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Finally, on December 15, 1943, the Africa-Middle East jurisdiction was divided into the Central African and North African Wings. This image was nationally circulated in late October 1943. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0715.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.17 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2912 x 2336 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Cairo |
| State or Province | Cairo |
| Country | Egypt |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-179564 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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