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Operation Flax
Operation Flax〔Zaloga and Welply 2005, p. 86.〕〔Chant 1987, p. 53.〕〔Shores 1975, p. 280.〕〔Price 1997, p. 68.〕〔Murawski 2009, p. 24.〕 was a Western Allied air operation executed during the Battle of Tunisia and North African Campaign of the Second World War. The operation was designed to cut the air supply lines between Italy and the Axis armies in Tunis, Tunisia, in April 1943. The parallel Allied naval effort was Operation ''Retribution''.
In November 1942, American and British forces landed in North Africa under Operation ''Torch''. Allied thrusts overran Vichy French Morocco and Algeria and advanced into Tunisia. The danger for the Axis Powers was now apparent. The Allied forces advancing eastward and the British 8th Army advancing westward after the victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein, would trap and destroy the remaining Axis forces in North Africa. In response to the crisis, and the poor state of Axis forces, reinforcements for the German ''Afrika Korps'', Italian Army and ''Luftwaffe'' were dispatched by sea and air. These reinforcements duly staved off an immediate defeat in Tunisia, the last region still in Axis hands. The poor state of the roads and rail lines in Algeria meant that Allied forces faced difficult logistic challenges which enabled the Axis to prolong a defence. The inexperience of U.S. forces was also apparent at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. Nevertheless, the growing number and experience of Allied forces squeezed the Axis toward the northern tip of Tunisia. The Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy operating from Malta took a heavy toll of Axis shipping. However, Axis supplies were still reaching the besieged ''Afrika Korps'' by air. By early April, large quantities of Axis manpower was also being evacuated by air. Although the Allies held air superiority by this time, ''Luftwaffe'' transports were operating with impunity during darkness.
In order to prevent this the Allied Air Forces, the RAF and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)—were ordered to conduct operations against Axis air power by day and night in order to prevent their resupply or withdrawal. Owing to bad weather and the need to gather intelligence, the operation, codenamed "Flax", did not begin until 5 April. Although the Axis put up determined resistance and large scale air battles took place, the Allied Air Forces succeeded in destroying the aerial link between Axis-held Sicily and Italy. During the course of the interdiction operation, an air battle known as the 18 April ''Palmsonntag Massaker'' ("Palm Sunday Massacre") took place, in which the German Junkers Ju 52 transport fleets suffered heavy losses over Cape Bon, while evacuating ''Heer'' forces escaping from the Allied ground offensive Operation ''Vulcan''. The air operation continued until 27 April. The operation destroyed Axis logistical support. Along with the attempted airlift during the Battle of Stalingrad, Operation Flax inflicted such grievous losses on the German transport fleets that they were unable to recover.〔Levine 1999, p. 182.〕〔Murawski 2009, p. 56.〕
==Background==
抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』
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