Deversoir Air Base

Deversoir Air Base
RAF Deversoir
LG-209
Near Ahou Sulan, Egypt

RAF Deversoir - Airfield about 1945 mosaic
RAF Deversoir
Location in Egypt
Coordinates 30°25′22″N 032°20′07″E / 30.42278°N 32.33528°E / 30.42278; 32.33528Coordinates: 30°25′22″N 032°20′07″E / 30.42278°N 32.33528°E / 30.42278; 32.33528
Site information
Owner Egyptian Armed Forces
Operator  Royal Air Force
 United States Army Air Forces
 Egyptian Air Force
Controlled by Royal Air Force (1935-1956)
Ninth Air Force (1942-45)
Egyptian Air Force (1956-Present)
Site history
Battles/wars

World War II

Deversoir Air Base (LG-209) is a former military airfield in Egypt, located approximately 19 km south-southeast of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah); 116 km northeast of Cairo. It was formerly a major Royal Air Force airfield known as RAF Deversoir built before World War II.

History

Deversoir was a Royal Air Force (RAF) military airfield built in the 1930s. It was built part of the defences of the Suez Canal, being constructed at the northwest shore of the Great Bitter Lake. During World War II, it was used as a military airfield by the RAF and the United States Army Air Force during the North African Campaign against Axis forces.22

The airfield received United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 February 1945 as he flew from the Yalta Conference to rejoin the USS Quincy, which was anchored in the Great Bitter Lake and would host the President's meetings with King Farouk of Egypt, King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, and Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia before transporting him back to the United States.[1]

Deversoir appears to have been used by the RAF after the war until 1956, then turned over to the Egyptian Air Force. Modern hardened aircraft shelters were built on wartime-era dispersal pads, and recent runway markings are evident in aerial photography. However, the airfield does not appear to be in current use.

Major units assigned

Royal Air Force[2]
6, 8, 32, 73, 213, 249, 256 417, 680
United States Army Air Forces (Ninth Air Force)[2]

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

  1. http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/daybyday/daylog/february-12th-1945/
  2. 1 2 "RAF Deversoir". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 30 March 2015.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, October 22, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.