Ismailia Air Base

Ismailia Air Base El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīyä is an air base of the Egyptian Air Force located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west-northwest of the city of Ismailia; 116 kilometres (72 mi) northeast of Cairo, Egypt.

Ismailia Air Base RAF Ismailia RAF Moascar
Arabic: قاعدة الاسماعيلية الجوية
Ismailia, Ismailia Governorate in Egypt
Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at RAF Ismailia, 1942
Ismailia Air Base Shown within Egypt
Coordinates	30°35′53.75″N 32°14′12.86″E
Type	Air Base
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defense (Egypt)
Operator	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces Egyptian Air Force
Controlled by	Royal Air Force (1935-1956) Ninth Air Force (1942) Egyptian Air Force (1956 – present)
Site history
Built	1915 (1915)
In use	1915 - present
Battles/wars	World War II Western Desert campaign
Airfield information
Elevation	11 metres (36 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 13/31 980 metres (3,215 ft) Asphalt

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

• No. 6 Squadron RAF between 28 October 1929 and 29 May 1936 with the Fairey Gordon, Hawker Hart and Hawker Demon^[1]
• No. 11 Squadron RAF between 9 May and 16 June 1940 with the Bristol Blenheim I^[2]
• 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^[3]
• No. 30 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 9 July 1940 with the Blenheim I & IF^[4]
• No. 33 Squadron RAF between 14 November 1936 and 21 October 1938 with the Hart and Gloster Gladiator I^[5]
• No. 38 Squadron RAF between 24 November and 7 December 1940 with the Vickers Wellington IC^[6]
• No. 45 Squadron RAF between 3 January and 4 August 1939 with the Wellesley and Blenheim I^[7]
• No. 55 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 11 June 1940 with the Blenheim I^[8]
• No. 64 Squadron RAF between 9 April and 1 August 1936 with the Demon^[9]
• No. 80 Squadron RAF between 10 May 1938 and 16 January 1939 with the Gladiator^[10]
• No. 94 Squadron RAF between 22 April and 29 August 1941 with the Gladiator II and the Hawker Hurricane I^[11]
• No. 113 Squadron RAF between 1 August and 10 October 1917 with the B.E.2E and the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8^[12]
• 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^[13]
• 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^[14]
• No. 211 Squadron RAF between 31 January and 10 August 1939 and Hawker Hind and Blenheim I^[15]
• Detachment from No. 213 Squadron RAF between July and December 1941 with the Hurricane I^[16]
• No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF between 6 February and 1 March 1942 with the Hurricane I^[17]
• Detachment from No. 274 Squadron RAF between February and April 1941 with the Hurricane I^[18]
• No. 651 Squadron RAF between 10 November 1945 and 2 February 1946 with the Taylorcraft Auster V^[19]

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 – discuss]}

^[20]

Current use

The base houses an Mil Mi-17 unit and further this baseis being used for other military movements.^[21]

See also

• List of North African airfields during World War II

References

1. Jefford 1988, p. 25.
2. Jefford 1988, p. 27.
3. Jefford 1988, p. 28.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 34.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 36.
6. Jefford 1988, p. 37.
7. Jefford 1988, p. 40.
8. Jefford 1988, p. 42.
9. Jefford 1988, p. 45.
10. Jefford 1988, p. 49.
11. Jefford 1988, p. 52.
12. Jefford 1988, p. 56.
13. Jefford 1988, p. 61.
14. Jefford 1988, p. 69.
15. Jefford 1988, p. 70.
16. Jefford 1988, p. 71.
17. Jefford 1988, p. 75.
18. Jefford 1988, p. 82.
19. Jefford 1988, p. 102.
20.  This article incorporates public domain material from the 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.
    • 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.
21. "Egypt - Air Force - Al Ismailiyah". Scramble.nl. Retrieved 27 November 2024.

• 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.

External links

• "Gladiator Ace" (2010), B. Cull, Haynes Publishing, p. 20 -21.
• Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign

External links

Media related to RAF Ismailia at Wikimedia Commons