The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 Group RAF under RAF Middle East Command in North Africa in 1941 to provide close air support to the British Eighth Army against Axis forces. Throughout the Second World War, the DAF was made up of squadrons from the Royal Air Force (RAF), the South African Air Force (SAAF), the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and other Allied air forces.
Hawker Hurricane in desert camouflage paint scheme
Kittyhawks of No. 112 Squadron RAF prepare to take off in Tunisia.
1943: A Kittyhawk from No. 112 Squadron RAF, taxiing through scrub at Medenine, Tunisia. The squadron was the first unit in any air force to use the "shark mouth" logo on P-40s.
March/April 1942, Landing Ground 121, Egypt. Lieutenant Robin Pare (left), Major John "Jack" Frost (centre) and Captain Andrew Duncan (right) of 5 Squadron SAAF, Desert Air Force. All three were killed or missing in action by the end of June. Frost, the squadron commander, was the highest scoring ace in an SAAF unit during the Second World War.
Middle East Command was a command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) that was active during the Second World War. It had been preceded by RAF Middle East, which was established in 1918 by the redesignation of HQ Royal Flying Corps Middle East that had been activated in 1917 although a small Royal Flying Corps presence had been operational in the region since 1914.
Air Commander-in-Chief of Middle East Command Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder at Air House, his official residence in Cairo, Egypt in March 1942.
