Bot at 06:33, 26 November 2022

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{{Short description|Airport in Libya}}
{{Redirect|El Adem|the town in Libya|Al Adm}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox airport
| name = Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase
| ensign = [[File:Roundel of Libya.svg|70px]]
| nativename = قاعدة جمال عبد الناصر الجوية<br>Qāʿida Ǧamāl ʿAbd an-Nāṣir Ǧawwiyya
| image =
| IATA =
| ICAO =
| type = Military
| owner =
| operator = Government
| city-served =
| location = [[Al Adm|al-ʿAdam]], [[Butnan District]], [[Libya]]
| elevation-f = 519
| elevation-m =
| coordinates = {{Coord|31|51|41.00|N|023|54|24.4|E|region:LY_type:airport}}
| pushpin_map = Libya
| pushpin_label = Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Gamal Abdel Nasser Air Base, Libya
| website =
| metric-rwy = y
| r1-number = 02/20
| r1-length-f =
| r1-length-m = 3016
| r1-surface = Asphalt
| r2-number = 09/27
| r2-length-f =
| r2-length-m = 2998
| r2-surface = Asphalt
| r3-number = 15/33
| r3-length-f =
| r3-length-m = 3007
| r3-surface = Asphalt
| footnotes =
}}

'''Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase''' ({{Lang-ar|قاعدة جمال عبد الناصر الجوية|translit=Qāʿida Ǧamāl ʿAbd an-Nāṣir Ǧawwiyya}}) is a [[Libyan Air Force (1951-2011)|Libyan Air Force]] ({{lang-ar|القوات الجوية الليبية|translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyya al-Lībiyya}}, [[Berber languages|Berber]]: '''Adwas Alibyan Ujnna''') base, located about 16 km south of [[Tobruk]]. It is believed to once have had about 60 or 70 Mirage F.1EDs aircraft assigned.

Prior to 31 March 1970, the airfield was known as '''Royal Air Force Station El Adem ('''{{Lang-ar|العدم|translit=al-ʿAdam}} after the nearby settlement [[al Adm]]), and used by the RAF primarily as a staging post.<ref>Sir David Lee, 'Wings in the Sun,' Air Historical Branch/HMSO, London, 1989, 157-8.</ref> Before [[World War II]], it had been an [[Italian Air Force]] airfield. A number of the former Italian buildings were seen remaining in 2003, during a courtesy visit by former RAF personnel, at which time no military aircraft were evident.

Royal Air Force Station El Adem was the fuel stop for the [[BOAC]] aircraft carrying the new [[Queen Elizabeth II]] on her flight from [[Entebbe]] to London on 7 February 1952.{{cn|date=August 2022}} In 1994, the remaining wreckage of ''[[Lady Be Good (aircraft)|Lady Be Good]]'', a US Army Air Force (USAAF) [[B-24 Liberator]] heavy bomber that crashed-landed deep in the Libyan desert during WWII in 1943, was brought to the air base by a local Libyan team led by Dr. Fadel Ali Mohammed (tasked with recovering the plane wreck) for storage and safekeeping. The remnants of the aircraft still remain there.

==World War II==
The airfield was largely reconstructed in 1942 by the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) and brought into operational use on 12 December 1942. It was used during [[World War II]] by the RAF and the [[United States Army Air Forces]] during the [[North African Campaign]] against Axis forces.

RAF units which used the airfield were:
* No 31 Air Stores Park (8 Mar – 10 Apr 1941);
* HQ No 262 Wing (11–20 Dec 1941);
* HQ No 258 Wing (12–xx Dec 1941, 3–xx Feb 1942);
* [[No. 2 Squadron RAAF]] (19–21 Dec 1941, 2–3 Feb 1942, 15–17 Feb 1942);
* No 33 Air Stores Park (23 Dec 1941 – 31 Jan 1942);
* No 53 Repair and Salvage Unit (26 Dec 1941 – Feb 1942);
* [[No. 80 Squadron RAF]] (28 Dec 1941 – 3 Feb 1942);
* Air Sea Rescue Flt (10–31 Jan 1942);
* [[No. 73 Squadron RAF]] (3–18 Feb 1942, 20–27 May 1942, 17–28 Nov 1942);
* [[No. 94 Squadron RAF]] (15–17 Feb 1942);
* HQ No 211 Group (12 Mar – xxx 1942)
* No 211 Group Communications Flt (20 Apr 1942 – 17 Sep 1943)
* [[No. 267 Squadron RAF]] (Aug 1942 – Jan 1943)
* HQ No 243 Wing (17–xx Nov 1942)
* [[No. 33 Squadron RAF]] (18–28 Nov 1942)
* [[No. 117 Squadron RAF]] (19 Nov 1942 – 9 Jan 1943)
* [[No. 213 Squadron RAF]] (20–25 Nov 1942)
* [[No. 238 Squadron RAF]] (20–25 Nov 1942)
* No 12 Staging Post (8 Mar 1943 – 1 Aug 1945)
* HQ No 7 (SAAF) Wing (17 Apr – 18 May 1943)
* No 2915 Sqn RAF Regiment (May 1943 – xxx 194x)
* [[No. 47 Squadron RAF]] (14–25 Nov 1943)
* HQ No 240 Wing (28 Dec 1943 – 4 Feb 1944)
* [[No. 178 Squadron RAF]] (1 Jan – 1 Mar 1944)
* [[No. 462 Squadron RAF]] (1 Jan – 15 Feb 1944)
* [[No. 336 Squadron RAF]] (31 Jan – 5 Mar 1944, 15 Jul – 16 Sep 1944)
* No 1900 AOP Flt (15 Jan – 1 Jul 1952)
* [[No. 249 Squadron RAF]] (11 Mar – 3 May 1957)
* Swifter Trials Flt (Jan–Jul 1960)
* No 1564 Flt (1 May 1969 – 31 Mar 1970)
* No 1 Sqn RAF Regiment

USAAF [[Ninth Air Force]] units which used the airfield were:
* [[316th Troop Carrier Group]], 10 December 1942–January 1943, [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]]
* 379th Bombardment Squadron, ([[310th Bombardment Group]]), 2–26 November 1943, [[North American B-25 Mitchell]]
: Attached to No 235 Wing, Royal Air Force<ref>{{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}}.
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}5
</ref>

==Current use==
The airbase is named after the Egyptian revolutionary [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], who served as President of Egypt. In 2013, the airport was officially reopened as [[Tobruk Airport|Tobruk International Airport]], with flights to [[El Nouzha Airport|Alexandria]], [[Egypt]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tobruk International Airport opened |url=https://www.libya-businessnews.com/2013/05/01/tobruk-international-airport-opened/ |website=Libya Business News |date=May 2013 |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tobruk International Airport officially opened |url=https://www.libyaherald.com/2013/04/30/tobruk-international-airport-officially-opened/ |website=Libya Herald |date=30 April 2013 |access-date=12 September 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/guests/jwbj/jwb1.htm Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign]
* [http://www.rafht.co.uk/index.php/2016/06/17/el-adem/ RAF El Adem Station Crest]

{{Royal Air Force}}
{{USAAF 9th Air Force UK}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Libyan Air Force bases]]
[[Category:Airports in Libya]]
[[Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Libya]]
[[Category:World War II airfields in Libya]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in Africa]]

Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase - Revision history

Bot at 06:33, 26 November 2022