Pont du Fahs Airfield
Pont du Fahs Airfield | |
---|---|
Part of Twelfth Air Force | |
97th Bomb Group B-17F attacking Messina Italy from Pont du Fahs Airfield, Tunisia, 8 May 1943. | |
Coordinates | 36°21′00.10″N 009°50′42.21″E / 36.3500278°N 9.8450583°E |
Type | Military airfield |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1943 |
In use | 1943 |
Pont du Fahs Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, which was located approximately 6 km west-southwest of El Fahs, and 55 km southwest of Tunis.
A Luftwaffe-held airfield prior to the Operation Torch landings, it was the home of the 5.(Pz.)/Schlachtgeschwader 1, flying Henschel Hs 129 ground attack aircraft. It was captured by British parachute infantry forces on 29 November 1942. Once in Allied hands, it was used by B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the United States Army Air Force XII Bomber Command 97th Bombardment Group.
The 97th moved out in mid August 1943 and after that the airfield was largely abandoned. Today some evidence of the airfield remains with the main runway being visible in aerial photography and traces of taxiways and disbursement hardstands.
See also
References
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.