attempting to move into Burma. They also aided greatly in the delivery of troops to Burma and on their return trip bringing out evacuees. While this was being carried out, other members of the command were hastily constructing a permanent air base for the group. Many of the buildings were constructed out of packing crates and other various discarded materials. The men at that time were stationed in tents located near the newly constructed headquarters. Major Cecil E. Combs, originally with the 19th Bombardment Group, was assigned to the group at this time and assumed command. During the latter part of March and early April, new crews with B-17 airplanes arrived from the U.S. and although forward units of the group stationed at Agra and Calcutta were already hitting the enemy, the training of these crews was undertaken to prepare them for the future air war against the Japanese in the China-Burma-India theater. Missions during this time consisted of bomber raids on Akyab, Rangoon and various other points in Burma. Losses were slight, though a number of crews failed to return, being destroyed in the air by Japanese Zeros. Middle East operations In June 1942, the German Afrika Korps advance in North Africa forced the British Eighth Army to retreat towards Egypt putting British Middle East Command at risk. The United States Army Air Forces had already planned for a buildup of American air power in the Middle East in January 1942 in response to a request from the British Chief of the Air Staff. In anticipation of the arrival of the American air groups, the War Department sent Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, commander of Tenth Air Force, to Cairo for temporary duty to assist the British. His orders instructed him to take as many planes as he could from India to Egypt. On 29 June 1942, combat crews and ground men from the 9th Squadron departed from India for the Middle East for duty in that theater, to repulse the Nazis then attempting an offensive against the new invasion forces of the U.S. When these forces arrived from India, United States Army Middle East Air Force (USAMEAF) was established and Brereton was named its commander. USAMEAF bomber forces consisted of nine B-17Es and nineteen B-24 Liberators formerly of the 9th and the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 7th Group. They would be organized into the 1st Provisional Bombardment