Martuba Airbase

Martuba Airbase

Martuba Airport
Martuba Airbase; Martuba Airport;
	IATA: DNF; ICAO: none;
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Libyan National Army
Operator	Libyan Air Force
Location	Martuba, Libya
Elevation AMSL	1,235 ft / 376 m
Coordinates	32°32′30″N 22°44′40″E
Map
	DNF Location in Libya
Runways
	Source: GCM WAC Google Maps

Martuba Airbase is a Libyan Air Force (Arabic: القوات الجوية الليبية, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) base in the Derna District of Libya, located approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south-southeast of Derna, and 268 kilometres (167 mi) east-northeast of Benghazi.

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During World War II the airfield, then known as Martuba Airfield, was used as a military airfield by the United States Army Air Force 57th Fighter Group, during the North African Campaign against Axis forces. The 57th flew P-40 Warhawks from the airfield 16 November-3 December 1942.^[4]

Following the British victory at El Alamein during the Second World War, the airfield at Maturba^[5]^[6] saw heavy fighting in 1942,^[7]^[8] as Rommel's Afrika Korps was pushed back from the Egyptian border.

The airbase's primary use is by the Libyan Air Force, which has two sections at the base. The first section contains the main buildings and the hangars that house Mil Mi-2 and Mil Mi-8 helicopters. The second section is the flight-line containing taxiways, a ramp, and a single runway. The runway has an additional 300 metres (980 ft) paved overrun on each end.

An Aeritalia G.222 is stored on the ramp, but this section of the base appears to be a reserve facility.

The site is also used for the transportation of oil field workers from production facilities in the area.

[1]
Airport information for Martubah Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
[2]
"Martubah Airport". World Airport Codes. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
[3]
"Martubah Airport". Google Maps. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
[4]
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.
[5]
Roy Conyers Nesbit, The Armed Rovers: Beauforts and Beaufighters Over the Mediterranean p45-46.
[6]
Frederick Grice, War's Nomads: A Mobile Radar Unit in Pursuit of Rommel during the Western (Casemate, 2015).p11.
[7]
Christopher Shores, Giovanni Massimello, A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945: Volume 2: North African Desert, February 1942 - March 1943(Grub Street Publishing, 19 Jul. 2014).
[8]
Ken Delve Delve, The Desert Air Force in World War II: Air Power in the Western Desert, 1940-1942 (Pen and Sword, 31 Mar. 2017).