"They were used very early in the war, starting with the North Africa campaign."
They were sent to Africa, but never used there. They only continued training. In fact their first combat mission was not until the Sicilian invasion of July 1943 to attack the small island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia. This is at least a year into the ETO operations, which I would not call the very early part of the war, but rather the latter half.
Well, it's confusing. A lot of sites say they "entered combat" or were "ready for combat" starting in North Africa.
I am aware that the first mission where they actually engaged in combat was during the Sicilian invasion.
And I know that they got additional training in Morocco. But I believe they were considered a combat outfit at the time.
"In fact their first combat mission was not until the Sicilian invasion of July 1943 to attack the small island of Pantelleria in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and Tunisia. This is at least a year into the ETO operations, which I would not call the very early part of the war, but rather the latter half."
Not really. The invasion of Sicily was one of the first ETO operations, if not the first.