Youks-les-Bains Airfield.png) | |
|---|---|
| Part ofTwelfth Air Force | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 35°29′50.83″N007°55′43.76″E / 35.4974528°N 7.9288222°E /35.4974528; 7.9288222 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-1943 |
Youks-les-Bains Airfield is an abandoned military airfield inAlgeria, located about 20 km northwest ofTebessa. The airfield today consists of several agricultural fields, with the faint remains of its main runway, parts of a taxiway and a few aircraft dispersal hardstands visible in aerial photography.
The facility was built as a civilian airport, probably during the 1930s. During theWorld War II 1940Battle of France, theFrench Air Force GB II/11 flew across the Mediterranean with 14Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 medium bombers, arriving on 21 June. From Youks-les-Bains, the squadron attacked Italian forces atPalermo, Sicily on 23 and 24 June, before theArmistice withNazi Germany andItaly took place on 25 June. After the armistice, Youks-les-Bains became a base for the limitedVichy French Air Force (French:Armée de l'Air de Vichy) allowed by the Germans.
As part of theNorth African Campaign, on 15 November 1942, thirty-threeC-47 Skytrain transports dropped three hundred men of theUnited States Army 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Regiment on Youks-les-Bains airfield during the initial attacks on occupied Tunisia by the Tunisian Task Force. As the planes carrying the 509th approached the airfield, soldiers were seen in the trenches around the field. There were several anxious moments as the paratroopers started their jump, not knowing whether the troops below were French or German. Upon reaching the ground, the Americans found a poorly equipped, but friendly and helpful, unit of the French Army in possession of the area.
Once in Allied hands, the airfield became a majorUnited States Army Air ForceTwelfth Air Force base of operations against the GermanAfrika Korps. Known units assigned to Youks-les-Bains were:
By the end of theBattle of Tunisia, the Twelfth Air Force units had moved east and the Allied use of the airfield was reduced to a skeleton stationkeeping unit, being used as an emergency landing field forAir Transport Command units flying betweenTunis andAlgiers. It was abandoned by the American forces after the end of theEuropean War during the summer of 1945.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
