Ismailia Air Base

Ismailia Air Base RAF Ismailia
Near: Ismailia, Egypt
Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at RAF Ismailia, 1942
Ismailia Air Base Air Base Location in Egypt
Coordinates	30°35′53.75″N 32°14′12.86″E / 30.5982639°N 32.2369056°E / 30.5982639; 32.2369056Coordinates: 30°35′53.75″N 32°14′12.86″E / 30.5982639°N 32.2369056°E / 30.5982639; 32.2369056
Site information
Owner	Egyptian Armed Forces
Operator	Royal Air Force  United States Army Air Forces  Egyptian Air Force
Controlled by	Royal Air Force (1935-1956) Ninth Air Force (1942) Egyptian Air Force (1956-Present)
Site history
Battles/wars	World War II Western Desert Campaign
Airfield information
Runways Direction Length and surface 13/31 3217 ft Asphalt

Ismailia Air Base Air Base is an Egyptian Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية المصرية‎‎, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīyä) helicopter base, located approximately 4 km west-northwest of the city of Ismailia; (Al Isma`iliyah); 116 km northeast of Cairo.

History

During World War II, the airfield, then known as RAF Ismailia or Ismailia Airfield, was used as a military airfield by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force during the North African Campaign against Axis forces. Ismailia was a pre-World War II station, originally opened about 1916.

Today, the airfield is an active Egyptian Air Force base. The base is housing an SA-342 Gazelle unit and further is this base being used for other military helicopter movements.

Major units assigned

Royal Air Force

• No. 208 Squadron RAF 1920-1922
• No. 113 Squadron RAF Aug-Sep 1917
• No. 211 Squadron RAF Jan 1939-Nov 1940
• No. 40 Wing RAF 1919-Apr 1920
  • No. 33 Squadron RAF 1938 - ?

United States Army Air Forces (Ninth Air Force)

• 12th Bombardment Group October 1942-Undetermined (B-25 Mitchell)
• 436th Troop Carrier Group, 13 August - 18 October 1942. C-47 Skytrain
• 434th Bombardment Group, 14 August – 29 September 1942, B-25 Mitchell

^[1]

• • "Gladiator Ace" (2010), B. Cull, Haynes Publishing, p.20 -21.

See also

• Media related to RAF Ismailia at Wikimedia Commons
• List of World War II North Africa Airfields

References

1. ↑  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
   • Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
   • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. 

• Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign

External links