Oran Tafaraoui Airport is a joint civil/military airport in Oran Province

Oran Province

Oran is a province in Algeria whose seat is the city of the same name.-Geography:It is located in the northwestern part of the country. Its population is 1,584,607 and it covers a total area of 2,114 km²...

, Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

 .

World War II

During World War II, it was a primary mission objective of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 34th Infantry Division during the Allied Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

 landings on 8 November 1942, and became a major Twelfth Air Force base of operations during the North African Campaign

North African campaign

During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...

 against the German Afrika Korps

Afrika Korps

The German Africa Corps , or the Afrika Korps as it was popularly called, was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...

.

Tafaraoui became a staging and transit point for many units:

• 11 November -20 November 1942 - 1st Fighter Group HQ and the 27th, 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons, flying P-38 Lightning
  P-38 Lightning
  The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
  
  s, arrived then departed Tafaraoui.
• 14 November 1942 - HQ 14th Fighter Group, HQ 62d Troop Carrier Group, and the 4th and 7th Troop Carrier Squadrons arrive at Tafaraoui with C-47 Skytrain
  C-47 Skytrain
  The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
  
  s
• 16 November 1942 - 8th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, arrive at Tafaraoui from the UK with C-47s; the 111th and 154th Observation Squadrons, 68th Observation Group, moves from St Leu to Tafaraoui with A-20s
• 17 November 1942 - 437th and 438th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Saint-Leu
  Saint-Leu Airfield
  Saint-Leu Airfield was a military airfield in Algeria, near the city of Bettioua, about 45 km northeast of Oran.During World War II it was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force 319th Bombardment Group during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps...
  
   to Tafaraoui with B-26s.
• November 42 - HQ 319th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 439th, and 440th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from St Leu to Tafaraoui with B-26 Marauder
  B-26 Marauder
  The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
  
  s; "A" flight of the air echelon of the 15th Photographic Mapping Squadron, 3d Photographic Group, arrives at Tafaraoui with B-17 Flying Fortresses and F-4s (B-17 photo reconnaissance aircraft).

The new desert Spitfires of the 31st Fighter Group were also assigned to Tafaraoui. Other aircraft at the field included P-38s of the 14th, B-26s, B-25 Mitchell

B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

s, A-20 Havocs, Gen. Doolittle

Jimmy Doolittle

General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...

's B-17-G, some {Amiat} French bombers around, and some old wrecks fixed up as dummies.