Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Italy, Sicily and Sardinia By Henry L. deZeng IV Catania Edition: September 2015 Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Copyright © by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress). (1st Draft 2015) Blanket permission is granted by the author to researchers to extract information from this publication for their personal use in accordance with the generally accepted definition of fair use laws. Otherwise, the following applies: All rights reserved. No part of this publication, an original work by the authors, may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. This information is provided on an "as is" basis without condition apart from making an acknowledgement of authorship. Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Airfields Italy, Sicily and Sardinia Introduction Conventions 1. For the purpose of this reference work, “Italy, Sicily and Sardinia” generally means mainland Italy and the two islands at the beginning of World War II, and does not include Italian acquisitions and annexations in Africa, the Balkans and elsewhere. The territory occupied and acquired by Italy after the start of the war is not included either. 2. Airfields, landing grounds and airstrips built by the Allies in Italy are not included. 3. All spellings are as they appear in wartime German, Italian and Allied documents with the addition of alternate spellings where known. 4. It is strongly recommended that researchers use the search function because each airfield and place name has alternate spellings, sometimes 3 or 4. A search is best done by downloading this .pdf document and then performing the search. 5. See the General Introduction for matters concerning other conventions such as format, limitations of data, abbreviations, glossary, sources, etc. Preface In the mid-1930’s, Italy had 52 airfields, 18 seaplane stations and 110 emergency landing grounds. By the beginning of Italian participation in the war on 10 June 1940, Italy had a total of nearly 5,000 aircraft, including 1,983 serviceable combat aircraft, operational reserves and trainers supported by a ground infrastructure of some 98 first class operational airfields and landing grounds, many of the former with concrete runways and ample hangar accommodations. Additionally, there were 287 emergency landing grounds (“Campo di Fortuna”), the majority built during the late 1930s. From mid-1940 to the first half of 1943, airfield activity on - 1 - Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 the Italian mainland consisted mainly of training, transit, transport, sea reconnaissance, convoy escort, and limited bomber and torpedo-bomber operations from certain mainland bases. Only a moderate amount of development of existing airfields and relatively little construction of new airfields was carried out. Just the opposite was the case on Sicily, and to a lesser extent on Sardinia, where air operations and infrastructure development rapidly became intense and largely under German control. Spring 1943 brought an Allied victory in Tunisia (14 May) and renewed effort by the Axis to expand the number of airfields, landing grounds and airstrips in S Italy. The massive Foggia complex with its huge number of satellites was partially built out and several dozen new fighter strips were constructed south of the line Naples – Foggia as well as on Sicily and Sardinia. This process was repeated in fall 1943 in the area north and northwest of Rome where a number of forward airstrips for single-engine aircraft were set up, in North Italy, especially around Udine in northeast Italy, and more forward airstrips and satellites in spring 1944 in the area around Ancona on the east coast as the Allied ground campaign slowly pushed northward on the Italian peninsula. The construction work of 1943-44 was under German supervision using Italian and other foreign labor. The building and improvement work for some 25 airfields in North and northeastern Italy was elaborate and included more concrete runways, large dispersal areas and nearby satellite airstrips. Most of the work on airfields ended in September 1944 when the Luftwaffe downgraded the Italian theater and redirected a considerable amount of its resources from there back to the Reich. Airfields Listed A total of 341 airfields, landing grounds, airstrips, satellites and emergency landing grounds are listed below along with 36 seaplane stations and anchorages for a total of 377. A Aidussina (ITAL) (a.k.a. Ajdovščina, Haidenschaft) (45 53 25 N – 13 53 20 E) General: emergency landing ground/landing ground in wartime NE Italy 29 km NE of Trieste and 1.5 km W of Aidussina town center. History: said to be one of the many emergency landing grounds in existence by 1941. No - 2 - Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 record found of any Italian or Luftwaffe air units being based here. Surface and Dimensions: grass surface measuring 960 x 685 meters (1050 x 750 yards) with an irregular shape. No paved runway. Infrastructure: had 2 small buildings on the S boundary that may have been used as workshops. Personnel, when present, were accommodated in Aidussina. The nearest rail connection was in Aidussina. Dispersal: there were no organized dispersal facilities. Remarks: 30 Sep 44: listed as rendered unserviceable by exploded mines. [Sources: AFHRA A5262 pp.1181 and 1640 (1 Jan 45); chronologies; BA- MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk] Aiello (ITAL) (a.k.a. Aiello del Friuli) (45 51 40 N – 13 21 50 E) General: landing ground in NE Italy 24 km SSE of Udine, 6.5 km SE of Palmanova, 5 km NNE of Cervignano del Friuli and 1 km SSE of the village of Aiello. History: believed to be one of the several hundred auxiliary landing grounds built during 1938-40 by the Italian Government. Taken over by the Germans in fall 1943 and developed into a satellite or alternate landing ground for the Udine area airfields. Surface and Dimensions: artificially drained former marshland measuring approx. 1145 x 640 meters (1250 x 700 yards) with an irregular shape. No paved runway. Infrastructure: had a group of small buildings on the NE boundary. The nearest railhead was in Palmanova. Dispersal: an East dispersal with 34 medium aircraft shelters was in an advanced stage of construction in late March 1944. Defenses: none seen or reported. Remarks: 6 Apr 44: aerial reconnaissance photos spotted 47 single engine aircraft and 12 small biplanes visible on the landing ground. 18 Apr 44: strafed by 15th AAF P-38 Lightnings and P-47 Thunderbolts – results unknown. 30 Sep 44: listed as rendered unserviceable by exploded mines. Operational Units: none identified. Station Commands: none identified. Station Units (on various dates – not complete): none identified. [Sources: AFHRA A5262 p.1182 (20 Apr 44); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk] Airasca (ITAL) (a.k.a. Pinerolo) (44 54 55 N – 07 27 30 E) General: operational airfield (Einsatzhafen) in N Italy 24 km SW of Torino (Turin) and 2 km W of Airasca town center. History: built in 1936 but remained unused until May 1940 when fighters and tactical reconnaissance aircraft began arriving for the Italian attack on France. From summer 1940, it was relatively unused again until German bombers arrived in Jun 43. Large scale construction work under the Organisation Todt and Luftwaffe began right after the Sep 43 Italian surrender and included hard surface runways, dispersal areas with aircraft - 3 - Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 shelters, fuel and ammunition storage facilities and a command and flight control bunker. Airasca airfield was demolished and evacuated by the Luftwaffe in Nov 44. Dimensions: approx. 1690 x 915 meters (1850 x 1000 yards) with an irregular shape. Surface and Runways: grass surface that was very soft in wet weather. There were 2 surfaced runways - (1) measuring approx. 750 meters (820 yards) in length and aligned ENE/WSW; and (2) concrete measuring approx. 1005 meters (1100 yards) in length and aligned N/S. Both were built by the Germans during 1943-44 and the second, longer runway was camouflaged. Equipped with boundary, obstruction and runway lighting for night landings. Fuel and Ammunition: believed to have refueling points on the NW and NE boundaries. Ammunition and bombs were stored and available. Infrastructure: no hangars at Airasca and repair shops were mobile. There were several small huts along the airfield perimeter and in the Southwest dispersal area. The nearest rail connection was on the N outskirts of Airasca. Dispersal: had 2 dispersal areas – North and Southwest – with a total of 27 large and 19 small aircraft shelters, all of the open type. A network of taxiways connected the Southwest dispersal to the N/S runway. The Southwest dispersal in the vicinity of Viotto and San Bernardo was some 3 km distance from the airfield. Defenses: no information found. Remarks: 21 Dec 43: use severely restricted due to construction work on the runway. 28 Feb 44: reported construction work in progress on runway, taxiways and along airfield’s E boundary. 1 Aug 44: attacked by 12th fighter-bombers. 27 Nov 44: landing area and both runways seen to having been rendered unserviceable by demolition mines. Operational Units: Italian (Regia Aeronautica): 1º Gruppo OA (Jun 40); 152º Gruppo CT (Jun- Dec 40). Luftwaffe: Stab/KG 1 (Jun-Nov 43); I./KG 1 (Jun-Jul, Sep-Nov 43); II./KG 1 (Sep-Nov 43); II./JG 77 (Nov 43); Stab/SG 4 (May-Jun 44); I./SG 4 (Jun 44). Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. E 39/IV (Jun-Oct 43); Fl.H.Kdtr.