Royal Air Force Shandur or more simply RAF Shandur ( LG-214) is a former Royal Air Force station located in Shandur,

Suez Governorate Suez ( ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country and is coterminous with the city of Suez. It is situated north of the Gulf of Suez. The Suez Governorate is one of the most urbanized regions ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

History

From 1941 to 1942, RAF Shandur provided training for RAF crews who operated Marylands. In May 1943, the No. 70 Operating Training Unit was under the control of No. 203 Squadron RAF, and moved to the airfield for training operations until January 1945 when it was disbanded. There was also a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

unit presence here. According to German maps, RAF Shandur may have been mistaken as RAF Shaluffa.

Post-war Usage

In late 1947, RAF Shandur was an ex-RAF station, and served as the base for the

4th Royal Tank Regiment The 4th Royal Tank Regiment (4 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from its creation in 1917, during World War I, until 1993. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. History The regiment or ...

equipped with

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

, and

Sherman Sherman most commonly refers to: *Sherman (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname ** William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), American Civil War General *M4 Sherman, a World War II American tank S ...

tanks. It was also equipped with American Jeeps and Chevrolet 3-ton vehicles (‘B’ vehicles). In 1951, near the airfield was Camp Shandur, where the

16th Parachute Brigade The 16th Parachute Brigade was an airborne infantry brigade of the British Army. In February 1948 the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade left the 6th Airborne Division and moved to Germany, becoming part of the British Army of the Rhine. The 6th ...

of the 3rd Battalion was stationed. Shortly afterwards, operations were moved to Moascar Garrison. RAF Shandur experienced extreme weather conditions, such as snow falling in March 1950, and heavy rainfall that led to flooding in the

Nissen huts A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. It was designed during the First World War by the Canadian-American-British e ...

. The 4th RTR remained at the base until 1950, and was the only complete tank regiments trained there, remaining in the area until 1954. Due to the increasing

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

in 1956, the remaining units were withdrawn from the base. The airfield eventually fell into neglect; facing little Egyptian usage.

Units

The following units based in RAF Shandur at one point. * No. 223 Squadron RAF, May 1941 - January 1942, equipped with Marylands. * No. 417 Squadron RCAF, reformed at Shandur on 5 September 1942 * No. 70 Operating Training Unit, May 1943 - January 1945, equipped with Marauders and then Bristol Blenheims. * No. 6 Squadron RAF, equipped with Hawker Hurricanes * No. 108 Squadron RAF, reformed at Shandur on 15 March 1943 *

No. 178 Squadron RAF No. 178 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was a bomber unit based in Egypt, Libya and Italy in World War II. History Formation in World War II The Squadron was equipped with Liberators at RAF Shandur, Egypt on 15 January 1943 ...

, formed at Shandur on 15 January 1943

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shandur Defunct airports in Egypt Royal Air Force stations in Egypt Suez Governorate Royal Air Force stations of World War II in Egypt

History

Post-war Usage

Units

See also

References