Cercola Airfield is an abandoned

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

military airfield in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, located approximately 2 km north of Cercola in the Province of Naples in the Italian region

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

. It was an all-weather temporary field built by the United States Army Air Force IX Engineer Command using a graded earth compacted surface, with a prefabricated hessian (burlap) surfacing known as PHS. PHS was made of an asphalt-impregnated jute which was rolled out over the compacted surface over a square mesh track (SMT) grid of wire joined in 3-inch squares.

Pierced Steel Planking Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the r ...

was also used for parking areas, as well as for dispersal sites, when it was available. In addition, tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting. Once completed it was turned over for use by the

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

324th Fighter Group, which arrived at the airfield on 25 October 1943 flying

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

s. The 324th was reassigned to XII Air Support Command on 1 November 1943, and remained at Cercola until 6 May 1944, when it moved to Pignataro Maggiore. The 33d Fighter Group operated

s from the field between 1 January and February 1944, supporting ground forces as they advanced and attacking enemy aircraft on the air and ground. At Cercola, the group was reassigned to

Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell ...

and moved east to

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. It was replaced by the 57th Fighter Group, also flying P-40s, which operated from the field until the end of March. After the 324th moved out in May 1944 the airfield was dismantled. Today, there are no remaining traces of the airfield as the area around the town of Cercola has grown substantially since the war and is now part of the Naples urban area. The urban development has obliterated any trace of the airfield. It is unknown precisely where the airfield was actually located due to the changed landscape over the past 60 years.

References

* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .

External links

{{USAAF 12th Air Force World War II Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Italy Airports established in 1943