Ismailia Air Base

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.

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
Coordinates30°35′53.75″N 32°14′12.86″E
Site information
OwnerEgyptian Armed Forces
Operator Royal Air Force
 United States Army Air Forces
 Egyptian Air Force
Controlled byRoyal Air Force (1935-1956)
Ninth Air Force (1942)
Egyptian Air Force (1956 – present)
Site history
Battles/warsWorld War II
  • Western Desert Campaign
Airfield information
Runways
Direction Length and surface
13/31 3217 ft Asphalt

History

Ismailia was a pre-World War II station, originally opened by the British about 1916.

On 5–7 November 1938, RAF Vickers Wellesley aircraft set a non-stop distance record by flying from Ismailia to Darwin, Australia, a distance of 7,162 miles (11520.4 km).

During World War II, the airfield, then known as RAF Ismailia or Ismailia Airfield, continued to be used as a military airfield by the British Royal Air Force and also the United States Army Air Force during the North African Campaign against Axis forces.

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.



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