Kibrit Air Base

Kibrit Air Base

قاعدة كبريت الجوية
RAF Kabrit
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner Egyptian Air Force
Operator Closed
Location Kabrit, Egypt
Elevation AMSL 1,560 ft / 475 m
Coordinates 30°14′45″N 032°29′24″E / 30.24583°N 32.49000°E / 30.24583; 32.49000Coordinates: 30°14′45″N 032°29′24″E / 30.24583°N 32.49000°E / 30.24583; 32.49000
Map
 

Location of Kibrit Air Base

Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
14R/32L 2,684 8,805 Asphalt
14L/32R 2,684 8,805 Asphalt

Kibrit Air Base is a closed Egyptian Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية المصرية‎‎, Al-Qūwāt al-Gawwīyä al-Miṣrīyä) base located in Egypt, approximately 20 miles north of Suez; 125 km east of Cairo. The name of the station came from a nearby village, and in Egyptian means "sulphur كبريت". Kabrit now is the name of a pilot station for Suez canal navigation on the same location.

History

During World War II the facility was known as RAF Station Kabrit, (Landing Ground 213) and was a major Royal Air Force facility which was used during the Western Desert Campaign. In 1941, it was where the Special Air Service (SAS) was formed. Beginning in 1943, United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force units arrived to supplement the RAF against the Germans in the Western Desert. After the war, Karbit remained a RAF station, hosting transport squadrons, five circa 1946. This continued until the breakdown in relations between the British and Egyptian governments in 1956, when the decision was taken to pull out British forces from the Suez Canal Zone.

The base was taken over by the Egyptian Air Force and renamed "Kibrit", becoming one of its main air bases. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, it was a base for the EAF 20 Squadron, equipped with twelve Soviet-built MiG-15 aircraft. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the base was attacked by the Israeli Air Force, and many of its Soviet-built MiG-17 aircraft were destroyed on the ramp by the IAF's Dassault Mystère IVs. In the 1973 Yom Kippur War with Israel, the airfield was captured by Israeli ground forces that crossed the Suez Canal along with Kasfreet and Shalufa Air Bases, however it was not used by the Israeli Air Force.

Kibrit was used by the Egyptian Air Force until the 1980s when the EAF units and personnel moved to the new USAF built Fayid Air Base. Currently, the airfield is closed, and not on the EAF's current order of battle as being an active base. Its main runways are having their asphalt removed and it is unclear what the future holds for the airfield.

Operational units and aircraft

Unit Dates Aircraft
No. 13 Squadron RAF 1943–1944 Martin Baltimore V and VI
1946–1947 de Havilland Mosquito PR34
1951–1955 Supermarine Spitfire PR11 then Gloster Meteor PR10
No. 14 Squadron RAF Detachment 1942 Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 32 Squadron RAF 1954–1955 de Havilland Venom FB1
No. 37 Squadron RAF 1946 Avro Lancaster B7
No. 39 Squadron RAF 1951–1955 de Havilland Mosquito NF36 then Gloster Meteor NF13
No. 40 Squadron RAF 1942 Vickers Wellington 1C
No. 55 Squadron RAF 1944 Martin Baltimore IV and V
No. 70 Squadron RAF 1946 Avro Lancaster B1(FE)
No. 73 Squadron RAF 1952 de Havilland Vampire FB9
No. 78 Squadron RAF 1947–1950 Douglas Dakota
No. 80 Squadron RAF 1943–1944 Supermarine Spitfire IX
No. 104 Squadron RAF 1942 Vickers Wellington II
No. 108 Squadron RAF 1941 Vickers Wellington IC
1942 Consolidated Liberator II
No. 113 Squadron RAF 1941 Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 114 Squadron RAF 1947–1951 Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1
No. 148 Squadron RAF 1941–1942 Vickers Wellington IC & II
No. 162 Squadron RAF 1942 Vickers Wellington IC & II
No. 203 Squadron RAF 1941 Bristol Blenheim IV
No. 204 Squadron RAF 1947–1951 Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1
No. 208 Squadron RAF 1951 Gloster Meteor FR9
No. 215 Squadron RAF 1947–1948 Douglas Dakota
No. 216 Squadron RAF 1947–1951 Douglas Dakota then Vickers Valetta C1
No. 219 Squadron RAF 1951–1954 de Havilland Mosquito NF36 then Gloster Meteor NF13
No. 683 Squadron RAF 1951 Vickers Valleta C1
324th Fighter Group, 315th Squadron July, 1943[1] P-40F or K Warhawk
57th Bombardment Wing HQs July, 1943[1] (B-25C or D Mitchell, A-20 Havoc)

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Secret Document 161, Location of units in the Royal Air Force, 34th issue, July 1943, Royal Air Force Museum accession number PR02859.

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

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