Ismailia Air Base
{{Short description|Egyptian airforce helicopter base}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox military installation
| name = Ismailia Air Base
RAF Ismailia
RAF Moascar
| ensign = Flag of Egypt.svg
| ensign_size = 70px
| native_name = {{langx|ar|قاعدة الاسماعيلية الجوية}}
| partof =
| location = Ismailia, Ismailia Governorate
| country = Egypt
| image = 458 Squadron RAAF personnel Egypt 1942 AWM SUK10649.jpg
| image_size = 275px
| caption= Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at RAF Ismailia, 1942
| type = Air Base
| coordinates = {{Coord|30|35|53.75|N|32|14|12.86|E|region:EG_type:airport|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map = Egypt
| pushpin_label = Ismailia Air Base
| pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Egypt
| built = {{Start date|1915}}
| used = 1915 - present
| code =
| height =
| ownership = Ministry of Defense (Egypt)
| operator = Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
Egyptian Air Force
| controlledby = Royal Air Force (1935-1956)
Ninth Air Force (1942)
Egyptian Air Force (1956 – present)
| condition =
| builder =
| materials =
| fate =
| battles = World War II
| IATA =
| ICAO =
| FAA =
| TC =
| LID =
| GPS =
| WMO =
| elevation = {{Convert|11|m|0}}
| r1-number = 13/31
| r1-length = {{Convert|980|m|0}}
| r1-surface = Asphalt
}}
Ismailia Air Base {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīyä}} is an air base of the Egyptian Air Force located approximately {{Convert|4|km}} west-northwest of the city of Ismailia; {{Convert|116|km}} northeast of Cairo, Egypt.
History
Ismailia was a pre-World War II station, originally opened by the British about 1915 as Moascar.
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, continued to be used as a military airfield by the British Royal Air Force and also the United States Army Air Forces during the North African campaign against Axis forces.
History
; Royal Air Force
{{columns-list|colwidth=50em|
- No. 6 Squadron RAF between 28 October 1929 and 29 May 1936 with the Fairey Gordon, Hawker Hart and Hawker Demon{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=25}}
- No. 11 Squadron RAF between 9 May and 16 June 1940 with the Bristol Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=27}}
- No. 14 Squadron RAF initially between 23 November 1915 and 20 January 1917 with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C & E, Farman MF.11 Shorthorn, Martinsyde S.1, Martinsyde G.100 and Airco DH.1A the between 24 August and 19 December 1940 with the Vickers Wellesley{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=28}}
- No. 30 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 9 July 1940 with the Blenheim I & IF{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=34}}
- No. 33 Squadron RAF between 14 November 1936 and 21 October 1938 with the Hart and Gloster Gladiator I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=36}}
- No. 38 Squadron RAF between 24 November and 7 December 1940 with the Vickers Wellington IC{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=37}}
- No. 45 Squadron RAF between 3 January and 4 August 1939 with the Wellesley and Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=40}}
- No. 55 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 11 June 1940 with the Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=42}}
- No. 64 Squadron RAF between 9 April and 1 August 1936 with the Demon{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=45}}
- No. 80 Squadron RAF between 10 May 1938 and 16 January 1939 with the Gladiator{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=49}}
- No. 94 Squadron RAF between 22 April and 29 August 1941 with the Gladiator II and the Hawker Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=52}}
- No. 113 Squadron RAF between 1 August and 10 October 1917 with the B.E.2E and the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=56}}
- No. 142 Squadron RAF initially between 2 February and 13 February 1918 with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12A then between 3 August and 5 November 1936 with the Hart{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=61}}
- No. 208 Squadron RAF initially between 1 February 1920 and 28 September 1922 with R.E.8 and Bristol F.2B Fighter then between 26 September 1923 and 27 October 1927 with the F.2B{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=69}}
- No. 211 Squadron RAF between 31 January and 10 August 1939 and Hawker Hind and Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=70}}
- Detachment from No. 213 Squadron RAF between July and December 1941 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=71}}
- No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF between 6 February and 1 March 1942 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=75}}
- Detachment from No. 274 Squadron RAF between February and April 1941 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=82}}
- No. 651 Squadron RAF between 10 November 1945 and 2 February 1946 with the Taylorcraft Auster V{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=102}}
}}
; United States Army Air Forces (Ninth Air Force)
- 12th Bombardment Group October 1942-Undetermined (North American B-25 Mitchell)
- 436th Troop Carrier Group, 13 August – 18 October 1942. Douglas C-47 Skytrain
- 434th Bombardment Group, 14 August – 29 September 1942, B-25 Mitchell{{dubious|date=November 2013}}
{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}.
- {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
Current use
The base houses an Mil Mi-17 unit and further this baseis being used for other military movements.{{cite web|url=https://scramble.nl/planning/orbats/egypt/egypt-air-force#HE10124|title=Egypt - Air Force - Al Ismailiyah|publisher=Scramble.nl|access-date=27 November 2024}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite book |last1=Jefford |first1=C. G. |title= RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 |year=1988 |publisher= Airlife Publishing |location= Shrewsbury, UK |isbn= 1-85310-053-6 }}
External links
- "Gladiator Ace" (2010), B. Cull, Haynes Publishing, p. 20 -21.
- [http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/guests/jwbj/jwb1.htm Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign]
External links
{{Commons category-inline|RAF Ismailia}}
{{Royal Air Force}}
{{USAAF 9th Air Force UK}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:World War II airfields in Egypt
Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt