Belandah Airfield Complex, also known as Baheira Airfield Complex is an abandoned military airfield complex which is located about Southeast of

Ajdabiya Ajdabiya ( ; ) is a town in and capital of the Al Wahat District in northeastern Libya. It is some south of Benghazi. From 2001 to 2007 it was part of and capital of the Ajdabiya District. The town is divided into three Basic People's Congres ...

, Libya.

History

The facility was built either by the Italian

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

or German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

on June 1941. It consisted of two airfields, about 2.5 miles apart. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, after the Axis defeat in Egypt during the

Western Desert Campaign The Western Desert campaign (Desert War) took place in the Sahara Desert, deserts of Egypt and Libya and was the main Theater (warfare), theatre in the North African campaign of the Second World War. Military operations began in June 1940 with ...

, the facility was abandoned by the retreating Axis forces. It was later used by the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during the

North African Campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

by the 57th Fighter Group, which flew

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

s from the airfield between 3 December 1942 and 3 January 1943.

Belandah I

Location: Belandah I, also known as Bel Audah faced little Axis usage, however in January 1942,

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

fighters operated by the

Jagdgeschwader 27 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27) "''Afrika''" was a fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The wing was given the name "Africa" for serving in the North African Campaign predominantly alone in the period from April 1941 to Septembe ...

was stationed. The airfield had two natural firm airstrips measuring 915 x 135 meters and 960 x 135 meters. It was named after the Belandah Hill, located approximately 14.5 kilometres from the airfield.

Belandah II

Location: Belandah II also faced little Axis usage. The airfield consisted of two natural firm airstrips measuring 915 x 185 meters. Today there are no remains of either airfield, the desert has completely reclaimed the facilities and runways. Their locations can only be determined by German maps of the area.

Units

Royal Air Force: * No. 112 Squadron RAF * No. 250 (Sudan) Squadron RAF * No. 260 Squadron RAF *

No. 450 Squadron RAAF No. 450 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) that operated during World War II. Established at RAAF Base Williamtown, RAAF Station Williamtown, New South Wales, in February 1941, it was the first Australian Article ...

History

Belandah I

Belandah II

Units

See also

References

Further reading