Gerbini Airfield is a series of abandoned

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 ...

military airfields in

Paternò Paternò () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania, in the Italy, Italian region of Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale. Geography Pa ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, located west of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, near the intersection of the A19 and SP24 highways. The airfields consisted of a series of flat agricultural fields, used for runways and parking areas. First used by 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 ...

: * 37º Stormo, 1941-1942, Savoia-Marchetti SM. 81 P * 132º Gruppo Autonomo Aerosiluranti 1942-1943, Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 S It also housed 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 ...

forces during the Battle of Sicily, they were attacked on several occasions by

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 ...

bomber aircraft. Later, they were seized by Allied ground forces and used by the USAAF during the battle. Army engineers compacted the earth and improved the field for use by light and medium bombers. Also a tent encampment was established for ground support and for station infrastructure. Twelfth Air Force units stationed at Gerbini 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 Gree ...

, 20–24 August 1943,

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for ...

* 12th Bombardment Group, 22 August-2 November 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 Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

60th Troop Carrier Group 060 may refer to: * Motorola 68060 microprocessor * 0-6-0, wheel arrangement for railway locomotives * emergency telephone number in Mexico, "060" * Bermuda, country code "060" (ISO 3166-1 numeric) * 060, the area code for Chimay in the Belgian tele ...

, 20 October 1943 – 5 March 1944,

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF 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. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

When the C-47s moved out at the end of 1944, the airfield was dismantled and returned to its owners. A runway is still present, though the cement is broken up in many places by weeds. The outline of the runway is visible on Google satellite view.

References

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

External links

Airports in Sicily Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Italy Airports established in 1943 Paternò Italian airbases {{Italy-airport-stub