Frejus Airport

Frejus Airport
IATA: FRJ – ICAO: LFTU – LID:
Frejus Airport
Frejus Airport (France)
Summary
Airport type Closed
Location Frejus, France
Elevation AMSL 13 ft / 4 m
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01/19 3,500 1,060 asphalt

Frejus Airport (IATA: FRJ). is a former airport in France, located about 1 mile south of Saint-Raphaël (Departement du Var,Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur); 430 miles southeast of Paris.

The airport today is closed, but appears to be well-maintained. Now it is used as a sport complex including football, rugby, running, basketball...

History

Frejus Airport was established prior to World War II as a grass airfield. After the Battle of France in May and June 1940, Frejus was part of Italian-occupied France and airport operations were suspended. However the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica Italiana) did not use the airfield.

On 15 August 1944, United States Army parachute units, which included the 4th, 5th and 6th Para battalions and lst Indian Army Pathfinders, dropped into Southern France between Frejus and Cannes as part of Operation Dragoon. Their objective was to capture the area, destroy all enemy positions and hold the ground until the United States Seventh Army came ashore. Frejus Airport was seized from the Italian and Nazi German forces in the area and came under American Control.[1] XII Air Force combat engineers arrived at the airport with the amphibious forces and laid out a 6000' Sod runway, aligned east-west (08/26), making the airport operational for Twelfth Air Force combat aircraft by 26 August. It was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-12 St. Raphael/Frejus".[2]

The 79th Fighter Group flew P-47 Thunderbolt combat operations from the airfield against the retreating German and Italian forces from Frejus until mid-October 1944.[3] Once the combat unit moved out, Frejus became a transport airfield, supporting C-47 Skytrain resupply and also casualty evacuation flights until being returned to French control on 20 November 1944.[4]

After the war, an asphalt runway was laid down north-south and the airport operated under ICAO-code LFTU until 1999. The runway and taxiway appear to be in very good condition, but are marked with large X's to indicate the closure of the air field. No evidence of wartime use remains.

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

  1. ^ Airborne forces of World War II
  2. ^ IX Engineering Command ETO Airfields General Construction Information
  3. ^ Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  4. ^ Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.