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Wheelus Air Base
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Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in British-occupied Libya and the Kingdom of Libya from 1943 to 1970. Wheelus Air Base was originally built by the Italian Royal Air Force in 1923 and was known as Mellaha Air Base.
At one time Wheelus AB was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of 52 km2 (20 sq mi) on the coast of Tripoli. It had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the US, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. The base had a radio and TV station, a shopping mall and fast food outlets. At its height, over 15,000 military personnel and their dependents lived at the base.
Today the facility is known as Mitiga International Airport.
The airfield was constructed in 1923 and used by the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force). In 1933 the roads around the airfield and the neighbouring Mellaha Lake became the home for the Tripoli Grand Prix motor race.
Mellaha was used by the German Luftwaffe during the North African Campaign for short-range reconnaissance units, and coastal and naval reconnaissance units. Special weather reconnaissance units were also based at Mehalla. The main Luftwaffe unit stationed at the base was the 2nd Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14 or 2.(H)/14.
The squadron was equipped with 12 single-engine Henschel Hs 126, an aircraft with 2-man crews, which could cover approx 710 km, with a maximum speed of 360 km/h, as well as three Fieseler Fi 156 Storch liaison aircraft, and a Junkers Ju 52 for transport of men and materiel.
The airfield was captured by the British Eighth Army in January 1943. The United States Army Air Forces began using Mellaha the same month. It was used by the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 12th Air Force to launch Consolidated B-24 Liberators to bomb Italy and southern parts of Germany.
In addition, Mellaha Field was used by Air Transport Command. It functioned as a stopover en route to Benina Airport near Benghazi or to Tunis Airport, Tunisia on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.
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Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in British-occupied Libya and the Kingdom of Libya from 1943 to 1970. Wheelus Air Base was originally built by the Italian Royal Air Force in 1923 and was known as Mellaha Air Base.
At one time Wheelus AB was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of 52 km2 (20 sq mi) on the coast of Tripoli. It had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the US, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. The base had a radio and TV station, a shopping mall and fast food outlets. At its height, over 15,000 military personnel and their dependents lived at the base.
Today the facility is known as Mitiga International Airport.
The airfield was constructed in 1923 and used by the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force). In 1933 the roads around the airfield and the neighbouring Mellaha Lake became the home for the Tripoli Grand Prix motor race.
Mellaha was used by the German Luftwaffe during the North African Campaign for short-range reconnaissance units, and coastal and naval reconnaissance units. Special weather reconnaissance units were also based at Mehalla. The main Luftwaffe unit stationed at the base was the 2nd Staffel of the Aufklärungsgruppe (H) 14 or 2.(H)/14.
The squadron was equipped with 12 single-engine Henschel Hs 126, an aircraft with 2-man crews, which could cover approx 710 km, with a maximum speed of 360 km/h, as well as three Fieseler Fi 156 Storch liaison aircraft, and a Junkers Ju 52 for transport of men and materiel.
The airfield was captured by the British Eighth Army in January 1943. The United States Army Air Forces began using Mellaha the same month. It was used by the 376th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 12th Air Force to launch Consolidated B-24 Liberators to bomb Italy and southern parts of Germany.
In addition, Mellaha Field was used by Air Transport Command. It functioned as a stopover en route to Benina Airport near Benghazi or to Tunis Airport, Tunisia on the North African Cairo-Dakar transport route for cargo, transiting aircraft and personnel.