Sele Airfield is an 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 airfield in southeast

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, which is located approximately 15 km northwest of

Capaccio Capaccio is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Julius Capaccio (1552–1634), Italian humanist *Mike Capaccio Mike Capaccio (born December 17, 1957) is an American athletics administrator, currently serving as athletic directo ...

in the

province of Salerno The province of Salerno () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. It has 1,054,766 inhabitants as of 2025. Geography The largest towns in the province are: Salerno, the capital, which has a population of 131,950; Cava de' Tirreni, Bat ...

in the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

region of south-western

. It was a temporary field built by the Army Corps of Engineers used as part of the Salerno landings (

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

). The airfield was primarily 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 ...

86th Bombardment Group Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoad ...

from 22 September though 12 October 1943, flying combat operations with

A-36 Apache The North American A-36 (company designation NA-97, listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) is the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguish ...

s. As the airfield was very close to the battle lines, for the first week of operations, the group's aircraft were flown to Sicily overnights, then operated from the airfield during the day. When the 86th moved out the airfield was closed and dismantled. Today, the location of the airfield is visible in aerial photography, with its runway visible. However the remainder of the airfield has been obliterated by agricultural use of the land.

References

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

External links

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