Gioia del Colle Air Base is an Italian Air Force ( Aeronautica Militare) base located in the

province of Bari The Province of Bari ( it, provincia di Bari, nap, pruvincia 'e Bari, nap, label= Barese, provinge de Bare) was a province in the region of Apulia, Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,1 ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

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 re ...

, located approximately 1 km south-southeast of

Gioia del Colle Gioia del Colle (; Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The town is located on the Murge plateau at above sea level, between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Physical geography Territory ...

World War II

During

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 ...

the air base was captured by the

British Eighth Army The Eighth Army was an Allied field army formation of the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns. Units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Free French Forces ...

in October 1943 and subsequently used by the

United States Army Air Forces 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 ...

and Fifteenth Air Force. It was known as Gioia del Colle Airfield by the Americans. Known combat units operating from the airfield were: * 1st Fighter Group, 8 December 1943 – 8 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 ...

* 57th Fighter Group, 25–30 September 1943,

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 ...

451st Bombardment Group 451st may refer to: *451st Air Expeditionary Wing, a provisional United States Air Force Air Combat Command unit, currently in Afghanistan *451st Expeditionary Sustainment Command (ESC) is a subordinate command of 79th Sustainment Support Command * ...

, 10 January-5 March 1944 B-24 Liberator * 464th Bombardment Group, 21 April 1944 - 1 June 1944 B-24 Liberator The airfield was also used by troop carrier units working with British paratroopers (8th Troop Carrier Squadron) as well as by Air Technical Service Command as a maintenance and supply depot. (41st/38th Air Depot). It was turned over to the Allied Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force (Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana, or ACI) in September 1945.

Present

The base is an Italian military facility, presently home of the 36th Stormo, flying the

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

. If necessary, the base can host personnel and aircraft of both the Italian Air Force, as well as other nations in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. As part of the

Coalition intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a multi-state NATO-led coalition began a military intervention in Libya, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, in response to events during the First Libyan Civil War. With ten votes in favour and five ...

, resulting from the

2011 Libyan civil war The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Liby ...

and the subsequent enforcement of

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

Resolution 1973, it became the forward operating base for units of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, operating both Panavia Tornado GR4 and Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

References

* Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . *
USAFHRA document search Gioia del Colle Airfield

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gioia Del Colle Air Base

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

Aeronautica Militare Italian airbases Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Italy Airports established in 1915 Airports in Apulia Gioia del Colle

World War II

Present

See also

Notes

References

External links