Aghione Airfield
Aghione Airfield.png) | |
|---|---|
| Part of Twelfth Air Force | |
| Coordinates | 42°07′41.69″N 009°23′06.79″E / 42.1282472°N 9.3852194°E |
| Type | Military Airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1943 |
Aghione Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in France, which was located approximately 27 km southeast of Corte on Corsica. It was an all-weather temporary field built by the XII Engineer Command using Pierced Steel Planking for runways and parking areas, as well as for dispersal sites. 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.
The airfield was primarily used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force 52d Fighter Group between 29 April and 19 May 1944, flying combat operations with P-40 Warhawks. Also, the 1st Fighter Group deployed sixty P-38 Lightnings of the 94th Fighter Squadron to Aghione providing air support for the Allied invasion of Southern France between 10 and 21 August 1944. In addition, the airfield was used by Fifteenth Air Force 306th Fighter Wing, which deployed P-51 Mustangs to the base from several groups to support the landings in Southern France.
After Operation Dragoon, the airfield was closed and dismantled. Today, there are traces of the airfield remaining on the landscape visible from aerial photography, but no buildings or physical features remain.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
- Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
