Djilma Airfield

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Djilma Airfield
Twelfth Air Force - Emblem (World War II).png
Part of Twelfth Air Force
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Type Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built 1942
In use 1942-1944
Location of Djilma Airfield, Tunisia

Djilma Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, located about 2 km north of Jilma (Sidi Bu Zayd); approximately 180 km west-southwest of Tunis.

The airfield was built during World War II as a temporary field which was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force 31st Fighter Group during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps.

The 31st Fighter Group based three squadrons (307th, 308th, 309th) of Supermarine Spitfires at the airfield from 7 to 12 April 1943. It then moved to Korba Airfield and afterwards, engineers came to the field and dismantled the facility.

Today there are little or no remains of the airfield, except the remains of a runway in the desert just north of the town of Jilma, visible from satellite imagery.

References

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

  • Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.