Le Sers Airfield is an abandoned

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

military airfield in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, about 3 km of As Sars; 130 km southwest of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

. It was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and dispersal areas, not designed for heavy aircraft or for long-term use. The prevailing temperatures in the area are some of the hottest in the world, making steel planking unsuitable for airfield use. Its last known use was 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 ...

in 1943 during the North African Campaign. The

31st Fighter Group 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...

flew Supermarine Spitfires from the airfield between 12 April and 15 May; the

52d Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on ...

flew

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s between 14 April and 21 May. The fighter units out after the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

ended to airfields closer to the coast and the airfield was closed and the airfield was dismantled. Today, there are no remaining traces of the airfield as the area around the town of As Sars consists largely of agricultural fields, which has obliterated much of the airfield. Today the remains of a runway are visible from satellite imagery.

References

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

External links

{{authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Tunisia Airports established in 1943