Fayid Air Base

Fayid Air Base is an Air base of the Egyptian Air Force located west of Fayed, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt and 23 km (14 mi) south of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah) and 116 km (72 mi) northeast of Cairo.^[1] It was formerly RAF Fayid, a Royal Air Force station operational from 1942.

Fayid Air Base RAF Fayid - LG-211
Arabic: قاعدة فايد الجوية
Fayed, Ismailia Governorate in Egypt
Fayid Air Base Shown within Egypt Show map of Egypt Fayid Air Base Fayid Air Base (Africa) Show map of Africa
Coordinates	30°19′49″N 032°16′11″E
Type	Air Base
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defense (Egypt)
Operator	Egyptian Air Force
Site history
Built	1942 (1942) & 1980
In use	1942 - present
Airfield information
Elevation	21 metres (69 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 09/27 3,000 metres (9,843 ft) Asphalt

The base is home to both 86 and 88 Squadrons of 282 Tactical Fighter Wing of 149 Air Division, both squadrons fly the General Dynamics F-16C/D-40 Fighting Falcon.^[2]

History

During the Second World War, it was used as a military airfield by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces during the North African campaign against Axis forces.

Fayid was also the site of Camp Fayed, a significant internment camp of Italian Egyptians managed by the British authorities.^[3]

USAAF Ninth Air Force units which used the airfield were:

• 98th Bombardment Group, 11 November 1942 – 9 February 1943 Consolidated B-24 Liberator
• 316th Troop Carrier Group, January–May 1943. Douglas C-47 Skytrain

After the immediate postwar rundown of RAF units in the Mediterranean, RAF Fayid became the home of No. 13 Squadron RAF flying de Havilland Mosquitoes. Later it was joined by No. 39 Squadron RAF, with night fighter Mosquitos, and No. 208 Squadron RAF with fighter-reconnaissance Supermarine Spitfire XVIIIs.^[4] By 1952 it was the main transport staging post in the Canal Zone and also had five Vickers Valetta (MRT) Squadrons inc. 70, 78, 114 and 216. Along with the other RAF stations in Egypt, it was evacuated by April 1956.

The following squadrons were here at some point:^[5]

• No. 6 Squadron RAF, No. 13 Squadron RAF, No. 14 Squadron RAF, No. 37 Squadron RAF, No. 38 Squadron RAF, No. 39 Squadron RAF, No. 70 Squadron RAF, No. 76 Squadron RAF, No. 78 Squadron RAF, No. 84 Squadron RAF, No. 92 (East India) Squadron RAF, No. 108 Squadron RAF, No. 112 Squadron RAF, No. 114 (Hong Kong) Squadron RAF, No. 147 Squadron RAF, No. 159 Squadron RAF, No. 160 Squadron RAF, No. 178 Squadron RAF, No. 204 Squadron RAF, No. 208 Squadron RAF, No. 215 Squadron RAF, No. 216 Squadron RAF, No. 454 Squadron RAAF, No. 458 Squadron RAAF, No. 462 Squadron RAAF, No. 651 Squadron RAF, No. 683 Squadron RAF

Fayid was then used by the Egyptian Air Force until the 1980s when the airfield was upgraded (with support from the USAF) to accommodate the most recent sale of F-16 aircraft to Egypt by the U.S. Transatlantic Programs Center (TAC). The new Fayid Air Base now accommodates the 86th and 88th Tactical Fighter Squadrons of the 282nd Tactical Fighter Wing, flying F-16C/D Block 40s.^[6]

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations
• List of North African airfields during World War II

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Citations

1. "Suez Canal Zone 1954". 42 Survey Engineer Regiment via Old Maps Online. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
2. "Egypt - Air Force - Fayid (--) (Faid)". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
3. Joe Carbone (February 2014). "My Italian Father's Internment in Egypt 1940–1944" (PDF). Cologny, Switzerland: AAHA Amicale Alexandrie Hier et Aujourd'hui.
4. Lee, Wings in the Sun, 11, 41
5. Jefford 1988, p. 160.
6. Dutch Aviation Society, Egyptian Air Force Archived 16 December 2003 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 2009

Bibliography

• Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
• 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.

External links

• Royal Navy Research Archive - RNARY Fayid
• Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign