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Salon-de-Provence Air Base  Base aérienne 701 Salon-de-Provence Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-16 | |||||||||||
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.jpg) Socata TB 30 Epsilon trainer, Salon-de-Provence, 2007 | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Government of France | ||||||||||
| Operator | Armée de l'air et de l'espace | ||||||||||
| Location | Salon-de-Provence,Bouches-du-Rhône | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 194 ft / 59 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°36′23″N005°06′33″E / 43.60639°N 5.10917°E /43.60639; 5.10917 (Salon-de-Provence Air Base) | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  Salon-de-Provence Air Base Location of Salon-de-Provence Air Base, France | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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| Source: Aerodrome chart at Direction de la Circulation Aerienne Militaire (DIRCAM)[1] | |||||||||||
Salon-de-Provence Air Base (French:Base aérienne 701 Salon-de-Provence or BA 701) (ICAO:LFMY) is a base of theFrench Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located 4 km (2.5 mi) south[1]Salon-de-Provence,Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France.
It hosts the training facilities for the officers of the air force:
In addition, it hosts a school of theFrench Navy: the school of Naval Aviation (EAN).[citation needed]
Salon-de-Provence Air Base is a pre-World War II airfield, which was used by the Armée de l'Air during the early part of the war. It was briefly a base forRAF Bomber CommandWellingtons, which were sent to Salon from England, for raids on the Italian port ofGenoa, as a part ofOperation Haddock.[3] After the 1940Battle of France and theJune Armistice withNazi Germany, it became part of the limited (French:Armée de l'Air de Vichy) air force of theVichy Government. Known Vichy units at Salon-de-Provence were:[4]
On 11 November 1942, Salon-de-Provence Air Base was seized by Nazi forces as part ofCase Anton, the occupation of Vichy and theLuftwaffe took control of the base. Under German control, the base became a bomber airfield for anti-shipping operations over theMediterranean against American Convoys, and later, attackingAllied forces onCorsica andSardinia after their capture from Italian forces (Regio Esercito) during 1943.[5] Known units assigned were:
It was attacked on several missions by Allied bombers based in England while under German control. The airfield was sized by Allied Forces in August 1944 duringOperation Dragoon, the Invasion of Southern France in August 1944 and was repaired and placed into operational use by theUnited States Army Air Forces XII Engineer Command, being turned over toTwelfth Air Force on 28 August 1944. It was designated asAdvanced Landing Ground "Y-16 Salon".[6]
Twelfth Air Force stationed the27th Fighter Squadron at the repaired field from 30 August, flyingA-36 Apaches until moving north into eastern France in October. Also the47th Bombardment Group flewA-20 Havoc light bombers from the field during September.[7]
The use by American forces of the airfield was brief, and on 20 November 1944 it was returned to French control.[8]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
