Gerbini Airfield

Gerbini Airfield
Part of Twelfth Air Force
Plain of Catania
Coordinates 37°27′52.36″N 014°52′22.00″E / 37.4645444°N 14.8727778°E / 37.4645444; 14.8727778
Type Military airfield
Code 505
Site information
Controlled by United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built 1943
In use 1943-1944
Gerbini Airfield
Location of Gerbini Airfield, Sicily

Gerbini Airfield is a series of abandoned World War II military airfields in Sicily, located 23 kilometres (14 mi) west of Catania, near the intersection of the A19 and SP24 highways. The airfields consisted of a series of flat agricultural fields, used for runways and parking areas. First used by German Luftwaffe forces during the Battle of Sicily, they were attacked on several occasions by United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force bomber aircraft. Later, they were seized by Allied ground forces and used by the USAAF during the battle. Army engineers compacted the earth and improved the field for use by light and medium bombers. Also a tent encampment was established for ground support and for station infrastructure. Twelfth Air Force units stationed at Gerbini were:

When the C-47s moved out at the end of 1944, the airfield was dismantled and returned to its owners. Today the locations of the airfields are indistinguishable from the many agricultural fields in the area.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/28/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.