Deversoir Air Base (LG-209) is an active airbase of the Egyptian Air Force, known as 'Abu Sultan', located approximately 19 km south-southeast of Ismailia (Al Isma`iliyah); 116 km northeast of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

. It was formerly a major

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

airfield known as RAF Deversoir built before

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 ...

. A helicopter unit with SA-342 Gazelle helicopters is based here.

History

Deversoir was a

(RAF) military airfield built in the 1930s. It was built part of the defences of the Suez Canal, being constructed at the northwest shore of the

Great Bitter Lake The Great Bitter Lake ( ar, البحيرة المرة الكبرى; transliterated: ''al-Buḥayrah al-Murra al-Kubrā'') is a large saltwater lake in Egypt that is part of the Suez Canal. Before the canal was built in 1869, the Great Bitter L ...

. During

, it was used as a military airfield by the RAF and 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 against Axis forces. The airfield received

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

on 12 February 1945 as he flew from the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

to rejoin the USS Quincy, which was anchored in the

and would host the President's meetings with

King Farouk Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936 ...

of Egypt,

King Abdulaziz Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الرحمن آل سعود, ʿAbd al ʿAzīz bin ʿAbd ar Raḥman Āl Suʿūd; 15 January 1875Ibn Saud's birth year has been a source of debate. It is generally accepted ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

, and Emperor Haile Selassie of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

before transporting him back to the United States. Deversoir appears to have been used by the RAF after the war until 1956, then turned over to the

Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all mili ...

. Modern

hardened aircraft shelters A hardened aircraft shelter (HAS) or protective aircraft shelter (PAS) is a reinforced hangar to house and protect military aircraft from enemy attack. Cost considerations and building practicalities limit their use to fighter size aircraft. ...

were built on wartime-era dispersal pads, and recent runway markings are evident in aerial photography. The airbase is being used to accommodate a helicopter unit flying SA 342 Gazelle, armed helicopters. RAF Deversoir was operative as 324 Fighter Wing in 1950 when it was the home of three squadrons of

De Havilland Vampire The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteor, and ...

aircraft plus three

Gloster Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to engage in combat operations during the Second World War. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, pioneere ...

s, one to each squadron. The squadrons were numbers 213 and 249. Some time near the end of WW2 the station had been used to house Italian prisoners of war and this was evidenced by a painting done by one of them which was present in 1950 - 1952 in one of the cookhouse dining room for other ranks. During the mid 1950s

Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface fl ...

Zone patrols were carried out by RAF jets from the station. A rotation of standby aircraft from the station's Vampire squadrons was put in place, with RAF jets frequently scrambled to intercept Egyptian air force aircraft. This included Meteors and Constellations. Relations between the United Kingdom and Egypt continued to deteriorate in the wake of the 1952 revolution. 213 (Fighter) Squadron disbanded at Deversoir on 30th September, 1954, with the pilots and ground crew dispersed to other RAF stations outside of Egypt. The remaining RAF units vacated Deversoir following the coup that saw

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...

seize power in June 1956.

Major units assigned

; Royal Air Force * No 33 Air Stores Park (4 - 17 Jul 1942, 2 Sep - 15 Oct 1943) * No 63 Repair & Salvage Unit (7 Jul - Aug 1943) * No 26 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit (6 Mar 1945 - 1 Jan 1946) * HQ, No 324 Wing (28 Aug 1948 - Feb 1951) * Known squadrons (dates assigned undetermined) : 6, 8, 32, 73, 213, 249, 256 417, 680 ; United States Army Air Forces (Ninth Air Force) * 57th Bombardment Wing 5 June-28 August 1943 *

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 * ...

, 31 July–October 1942,

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 ...

* 316th Troop Carrier Group, 23 November–December 1942.

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...

19th Photographic Mapping Squadron The 19th Electronic Warfare Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed in Bann, Germany as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe Warrior Preparation Center. It was first activated during World War II as the 19th Phot ...

, January 30, 1944-31 Jan 1945 (B-24/F-7 Liberator)

References

* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . *
Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign

External links

Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt Egyptian Air Force bases World War II airfields in Egypt {{Fort-stub