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Agrigento Airfield.png) | |
|---|---|
| Part ofTwelfth Air Force | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military Airfield |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 37°18′50.48″N013°34′01.66″E / 37.3140222°N 13.5671278°E /37.3140222; 13.5671278 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1943-1944 |
Agrigento Airfield was a military airfield inSicily, just to the northwest ofAgrigento; approximately 5 km northeast of Porto Empedocle.
A pre-warRegia Aeronautica Italian Air Force base, the airfield was a primary objective of theOperation Husky landings. After being secured, it was used by theUnited States Army Air ForcesTwelfth Air Force31st Fighter Group, equipped with three squadrons (307th, 308th 309th) ofSupermarine Spitfires. Later, it was a command and control base for the52d Troop Carrier Wing from 1 September 1943 – 13 February 1944.
The airfield is also notable because many Italian Air Force airplanes landed at Agrigento in the days immediately following the armistice between Italy and the Allied armed forces in early September 1943. TheRegia Aeronautica 8° GruppoMacchi C.200 fighters landed at Agrigento on 13 September. Most were worn out and obsolete, no longer useful for combat, however Italian crews scrounged any parts that they could to keep their aircraft flying against the Germans. Later, theItalian Co-Belligerent Air Force (ICBAF or ACI) was formed and incorporated these aircraft.
After the American use of the base ended, it was turned over to the Italian Air Force for its use. Today, the site of the airfield is abandoned, although several runways and what appears to be a former sports facility (also abandoned) is visible at the former airfield site.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
