Crete, and Greece to cut enemy supply lines to Africa. The Palm Sunday Massacre was one noteworthy mission by the P-40 and Spitfire groups. After an Allied air forces command reorganisation effective 18 February 1943, the Ninth Air Force began to report to RAF Middle East Command (RAFME) under Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas. Additionally, the Ninth's 57th, 79th, and 324th Fighter Groups and its 12th and 340th Bombardment Groups were transferred to the operational control of the Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) under the command of Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham. The Ninth's 316th Troop Carrier Group flew its missions with the Northwest African Troop Carrier Command (NATCC). In February 1943, after the Afrika Korps had been driven into Tunisia, the Germans took the offensive and pushed through the Kasserine Pass before being stopped with the help of both Ninth and Twelfth Air Force units in the battle. The Allies drove the enemy back into a pocket around Bizerte and Tunis, where Axis forces surrendered in May. Thus, Tunisia became available for launching attacks on Pantelleria (Operation Corkscrew), Sicily (Operation Husky), and mainland Italy. At the time of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943, Ninth Air Force Headquarters was still based at Cairo in Egypt while the Headquarters of Ninth Fighter Command and IX Bomber Command were stationed at Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya, respectively. During this critical period of World War II when the Allied forces finally left North Africa for Europe, the groups of the Ninth Air Force consisted of: 12th Bombardment Group at Sfax el Mau, Tunisia with B-25 Mitchells (81st, 82d, 83d, & 434th Bombardment Squadrons) 340th Bombardment Group at Sfax South, Tunisia with B-25 Mitchells (486th, 487th, 488th, & 489th Bombardment Squadrons) 57th Fighter Group at Hani Main, Tunisia with P-40F Warhawks (64th, 65th, & 66th Fighter Squadrons) 79th Fighter Group at Causeway Landing Ground, Tunisia with P-40F Warhawks (85th, 86th, & 87th Fighter Squadrons) 324th Fighter Group with P-40F Warhawks (314th Squadron at Hani Main, 315th Squadron at Kabrit, Egypt, & 316th Squadron at Causeway). 98th Bombardment Group with B-24D Liberators (343rd & 344th Squadrons at Lete, Libya; 345th & 415th Squadrons at Benina, Libya) 376th Bombardment Group at Berka, Tunisia with B-24D Liberators (512th, 513th, 514th, & 515th Bombardment Squadrons) 316th Troop Carrier Group at Deversoir, Egypt with C-47s, C-53s and DC3s (36th, 37th, & 44th Squadrons