Operation Vigorous
HALPRO's first mission was flown on 12 June 1942 against the Romanian oil facilities at Ploieşti. Thirteen B-24s flew this first U.S. mission against a European target, causing negligible damage. On 15 June, seven planes assisted the Royal Air Force (RAF) in attacking an Italian fleet which had put to sea to intercept a British resupply convoy (Operation Vigorous) on its way to Malta. HALPRO then flew in support of British Commonwealth forces fighting in the deserts of Egypt and Libya on the eastern end of the Sahara Desert (the British term Western Desert refers to the Sahara being to the west of Egypt). HALPRO's primary mission became the interdiction of supplies to Rommel's Army in North Africa by bombing strikes on Axis cargo ships at sea or in the ports of Tobruk and Benghazi.