Operation Flax

Operation Flax
Part of the Tunisian campaign of the Second World War
Junkers Ju 52 transports over Africa. The type suffered many losses during Flax.
Date 5–27 April 1943[1] Location Tunis and Cape Bon, Tunisia > 37°20′N 11°20′E / 37.333°N 11.333°E / 37.333; 11.333 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  United States	Germany  Italy
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Tedder Carl Spaatz James H. Doolittle Arthur Coningham	Martin Harlinghausen Rino Corso Fougier
Units involved
Mediterranean Air Command	Fliegerkorps II
Casualties and losses
35 aircraft in aerial combat[1]	4 Savoia-Marchetti SM.82[2] 123–157[3] Junkers Ju 52s 21 Messerschmitt Me 323s[2] 432 Axis aircraft to all causes[1]

Operation Flax was an Allied air operation during the Tunisian campaign, as part of the larger North African campaign of the Second World War.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Flax was intended to prevent air supply between Italy and the Axis armies in Tunis, Tunisia, in April 1943. An equivalent Allied naval effort was called 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. American forces advancing eastward and the British Eighth Army advancing westward after the victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein, threatened to trap and destroy the remaining Axis forces in North Africa. Reinforcements for the German Afrika Korps, Italian Army and Luftwaffe were dispatched by sea and air. These reinforcements staved off an immediate defeat in Tunisia, the last African region still in Axis hands.

The poor state of the roads and rail lines in Algeria meant Allied forces faced supply difficulties which helped the Axis prolong their defence. The inexperience of U.S. forces was exposed at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. 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. Axis supplies were still reaching the Afrika Korps by air and by early April, many Axis personnel were being evacuated by air. Although the Allies held air superiority by this time, Luftwaffe transports were operating with impunity during darkness.

The RAF and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) were ordered to attack Axis aircraft by day and night. Owing to bad weather and the lack intelligence, Flax did not begin until 5 April. Although the Axis put up determined resistance and large air battles took place, the Allied air forces cut the aerial link from Axis-held Sicily and Italy. An air battle known as the 18 April Palmsonntag Massaker (Palm Sunday Massacre) took place, in which German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft suffered many losses over Cape Bon while evacuating Heer (German Army) forces from the Allied ground offensive, Operation Vulcan. Flax continued until 27 April and did great harm to the Axis supply effort. Along with the airlift during the Battle of Stalingrad, Flax was so costly to the German transport fleet that it never recovered.^[1][9]