This week in the War, 14–20 June 1943: The Tuskegee Airmen

This week in the war, on 18 June 1943, six American P-40 Warhawks, piloted by some of the soon-to-be-famous Tuskegee Airmen, were attacked by German Focke-Wulfs over the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria—which had recently fallen into Allied hands.

The ‘Tuskegee Airmen’ was the name given to the African-American pilots who flew fighter planes or bombers during World War II. They trained at the Tuskegee Army Airfield near Tuskegee, Alabama, and were all graduates of Tuskegee University.

The 18 June 1943 encounter was the Tuskegee Airman’s first taste of combat. They fought off the attack by the dozen or so enemy fighters and both sides returned to their bases without suffering any losses.

The Tuskegee Airmen would serve in Italy and central Europe and many received DFCs for their bravery. They shot down a large number of enemy planes including, near the end of the war, some of the Luftwaffe’s most up-to-date jet fighters.