Lecce 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
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, which is located approximately 8.5 miles southwest from
Lecce in the
Salentine Peninsula. Built in 1943 by United States Army Engineers, the airfield was primarily a
Fifteenth Air Force B-24 Liberator heavy bomber base used in the strategic bombing of Germany. Lecce was also used by tactical aircraft of
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 the
Italian Campaign.
Known units assigned to the airfield were:
*
98th Bombardment Group, 17 January 1944 – 19 April 1945,
B-24 Liberator, (15AF)
*
82d Fighter Group
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
, 10 October 1943 – 11 January 1944,
P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...
, (12AF)
*
416th Night Fighter Squadron 416th may refer to:
* 416th Air Expeditionary Operations Group, provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command
* 416th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit
*416th Engineer Command (TEC), US Army Res ...
, 27–30 September 1943,
Bristol Beaufighter (12 AF)
The airfield today operates as
Lecce Galatina Air Base.
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 Italy
Airports established in 1943
1943 establishments in Italy
1945 disestablishments in Italy