 Complete the following phrase:  Appointed Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command with the acting rank of air marshal on 5 February 1943, Slessor had at his disposal sixty squadrons, two of which were equipped with B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. He was credited with doing much to turn the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic in the Allies favour by employing his thinly stretched long-range bomber force against the U-boat threat, in close cooperation with naval forces. Promoted temporary air marshal on 1 June 1943, he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1943 Birthday Honours. Slessor became Commander-in-Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East in January 1944, and deputy to Lieutet General Ira Eaker as Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces. In this role he conducted operations in the Italian Campaign and 