Ras el Ma 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 opposin ...

military airfield in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, located in the southeast suburbs of

Ras Kebdana Ras Kebdana or Ras El Ma (Tarifit: Qabuyawa, ⵇⴰⴱⵓⵢⴰⵡⴰ; Arabic: رأس الماء) is a town in Nador Province, Oriental, Morocco. It is a seaport, is located in the province of Nador. According to the 2014 census, it has a popula ...

. The airfield served as a support facility for the port, allowing Allied aircraft to be assembled and parepared for combat duty, then flown from the airstrip as replacements during the North African Campaign. 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 U ...

also used the airfield to re-equip the

27th Bombardment Group 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

with the

A-36 Apache The North American A-36 (listed in some sources as "Apache" or "Invader", but generally called Mustang) was the ground-attack/dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguished by the presence of rectang ...

close air support variant of the P-51 Mustang in April 1943. Once the unit was successfully transitioned from its

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was or ...

light bombers, it was reassigned back to combat duty at Korba, Tunisia.

References

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

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ras El Ma Airfield Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Morocco World War II airfields in Morocco Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Morocco 20th-century architecture in Morocco