USAAF US Army Air Force Patch United States b 13 AAF Pacific Islands

US Army Air Force Patch United States 13 AAF 1942 Offensive Pacific Islands Jungle Air Force Fully Embroidered cut edge 70mm by 67mm two and three quarter inches by two and five eighth inches.

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13 United States Army Air Force USAAF was activated on 13 January 1942 at Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield on New Caledonia composed of many widely separated Seventh Air Force and independent units scattered in the South Central Pacific during the Solomon Islands campaign. Initially charged with taking a defensive stand against the advancing Japanese forces Thirteenth Air Force later took the offensive flying a variety of aircraft, including the B 17 Flying Fortress B 24 Liberator B25 Mitchell B 26 Marauder P 38 Lightning P39 Airacobra P 40 Warhawk P 61 Black Widow C 46 Commando C47 Skytrain and L5 Sentinel.

Thirteenth Air Force along with Fifth Air Force in Australia and Seventh Air Force in Hawaii were assigned to the newly created United States Far East Air Forces FEAF on 3 August 1944. FEAF was subordinate to the US Army Forces Far East and served as the headquarters of Allied Air Forces Southwest Pacific Area.

Thirteenth Air Force operated from tropical jungles on more than 40 remote islands including the Solomon Islands Gilbert and Marshall Islands Mariana and Palau Islands and the Philippines campaign earning the nickname The Jungle Air Force. 13 AAF units participated in five different operational areas and 13 campaigns. After hostilities ended in 1945, Thirteenth Air Force established its headquarters at Clark Field Philippines in January 1946.

This patch dates from 1942.