Castelvetrano Airfield.png) | |
|---|---|
| Part ofTwelfth Air Force | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military Airfield |
| Controlled by | Regia Aeronautica United States Army Air Forces |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 37°40′23.97″N012°46′29.28″E / 37.6733250°N 12.7748000°E /37.6733250; 12.7748000 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1930s |
| In use | 1944 |
Castelvetrano Airfield is a decommissionedWorld War II military airfield inSicily which is located approximately 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) southwest ofCastelvetrano. The airfield had been anItalian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica), seized by the United States Army during the Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), and used as part ofSicilian Campaign and theAllied Invasion of Italy in 1943.
When theAxis Forces were driven out ofCyrenaica duringOperation Crusader in December 1941, they could no longer fly in supplies fromCrete toDerna. Instead, theRegia Aeronautica and GermanLuftwaffe began flying transport missions from airfields in Sicily, including Castelvetrano. On 4 January 1942 Castelvetrano was attacked by a force ofRoyal Air ForceBlenheim IV bombers flying fromLuqa airfield onMalta, which caught 75 aircraft 'parked wing-tip to wing-tip ... the airfield was left a smoking ruin'. That nightWellington IC bombers from Luqa added to the damage.[1]
After its capture the airfield was primarily used by theUnited States Army Air ForceTwelfth Air Force units:
When the Americans moved out, the airfield was closed and dismantled. Today, the main runway of the airfield is clearly visible in aerial photography but no structures of other components of the airfield remain.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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