Two days later the ground echelon arrived at Deversoir. Upon its arrival the 81st underwent a training period with light bomber wings of the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force. This training included five missions intended to acquaint the American aircrews with aids to navigation in the Middle East. The first mission was flown on the night of 16 August 1942 and consisted of a bombing attack on the harbor at Mersa Matruh. The raid was followed by attacks on Axis airdromes at Doba and Fuka, and on docks at Tobruk, Libya. In September the 81st Bombardment Squadron went into action with the RAF's Desert Air Force in support of the British Eighth Army. One of the unit's earliest missions was a night raid on Sidi Haneish, in which it lost three bombers. During the weeks which followed the squadron struck Axis landing grounds, transportation facilities, and troop concentrations. After the Battle of El Alamein the squadron conducted a brief training program consisting principally of aerial gunnery, navigational flights, and night landings. The squadron resumed combat operations in December after rebasing further west. It participated in the pursuit of Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps to Tripoli, which fell late in January 1943. In February 1943 the 81st was sent to Algeria, where it joined elements of the Twelfth Air Force in support of Allied ground forces pushing eastward. After the German forces had been defeated in Africa the squadron was stationed at Hergla, Tunisia, and began participation in the Pantellerian campaign by pattern bombing coastal batteries on the island of Pantelleria. Following the capitulation of Axis forces in Pantelleria, on 11 June, the squadron conducted an intensive, three-week, program for training replacement crews recently arrived from the Zone of the Interior. The squadron also received replacement aircraft bringing the total from 13 to 24. Through July the squadron conducted bombing operations against Axis aerodromes, harbor installations, and towns on the island of Sicily. Early in August it transferred to Ponte Olivo Airdrome, Sicily, whence it continued to operate against Sicilian targets until the island was completely cleared of Axis forces. On 23 August the squadron moved to Gerbini Main Airdrome, Sicily, preliminary to entering the Italian Campaign. From September to early-November 1943, the 81st flew numerous missions in support of the American Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army then in the early stages of the Invasion of Italy. The types of targets most frequently attacked were rail junctions and marshalling yards, airdromes, landing grounds, highway bridges, gun emplacements, and troop concentrations.