Canrobert Airfield was a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
military airfield in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, located approximately 4 km south of
Oum el Bouaghi
Oum El Bouaghi ( ar, أم البواقي) is a municipality in Algeria. It is the capital of Oum El Bouaghi Province
Oum El Bouaghi or Oum el-Bouaghi ( ar, ولاية أم البواقي) is a province (''wilaya'') of Algeria in the Aures re ...
, approximately 70 km southeast of
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
* Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...
. It was 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 ...
Twelfth Air Force
The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
The command is the air component to U ...
during the
North African Campaign against the German
Afrika Korps. The Allied commanders made desperate efforts to prepare
forward airfield Advance airfield and forward airfield are military terms for a relatively primitive ad-hoc airfield used for refueling and re-arming air units as part of forward operations near the enemy. Also called advanced airfield for its advanced position, not ...
s for the use of fighters and fighter-bombers. Canrobert was one of these intermediate fields.
[Coggins, Jack. ''The campaign for North Africa''. Doubleday, 1980. .]
Known Twelfth Air Force units assigned were:
*
47th Bombardment Group 47th may refer to:
Chicago Transit Authority stations
* 47th station (CTA Green Line)
47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's "L" system, located in the Grand Boulevard community area of Chicago, Illinois and serving the Green ...
, 6–30 March 1943,
A-20 Havoc
The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II.
Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...
* 81st Bombardment Squadron, (
12th Bombardment Group 012 may refer to:
* Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car
* The dialing code for Pretoria, South Africa
See also
* 12 (disambiguation)
Twelve or 12 may refer to:
* 12 (number)
* December, the twelfth and final month of the year
Years
* 12 BC
* ...
), 16 March-3 May 1943,
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
* 82d Bombardment Squadron, (
12th Bombardment Group 012 may refer to:
* Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car
* The dialing code for Pretoria, South Africa
See also
* 12 (disambiguation)
Twelve or 12 may refer to:
* 12 (number)
* December, the twelfth and final month of the year
Years
* 12 BC
* ...
), 16 March-1 May 1943,
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
* 308th Fighter Squadron, (
31st Fighter Squadron
31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number.
In mathematics
31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...
), 21–25 February 1943,
Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
When the Americans moved out in May 1943, the airfield was dismantled and abandoned. Today agriculture has reclaimed the land where the airfield existed, however a faint outline of its main runway can be seen in aerial photography.
Notes
References
* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .
* 5
USAFHRA search for Canrobert Airfield* Coggins, Jack. ''The campaign for North Africa''. Doubleday, 1980. .
External links
{{authority control
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Algeria
World War II airfields in Algeria
Airports established in 1943