Paestum Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, located approximately 9 km north-northeast of Agropoli, in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Italy.
It was an all-weather temporary field built by the United States Army Air Force XII Engineer Command using a graded earth compacted surface, with a prefabricated hessian (burlap) surfacing known as PHS. PHS was made of an asphalt-impregnated jute which was rolled out over the compacted surface over a square mesh track (SMT) grid of wire joined in 3-inch squares. Pierced Steel Planking was also used for parking areas, as well as for dispersal sites, when it was available. In addition, tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.
Once completed it was turned over for use by the Twelfth Air Force 33d Fighter Group which operated P-40 Warhawks from the field between 13 September-18 November 1943, supporting ground forces as they advanced and attacking enemy aircraft on the air and ground. Later, the 340th Bombardment Group operated B-25 Mitchell medium bombers from the field between 23 March and 14 April 1944.
After the 340th moved out the airfield was dismantled. Today, there are no remaining traces of the airfield as the area around the town of Paestum are heavily farmed and the agricultural use has obliterated any trace of the airfield. It is unknown precisely where the airfield was actually located due to the changed landscape over the past 60 years.
PaestumAirfieldPaestumAirfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, located approximately 9 km north-northeast of Agropoli, in the...
The airfield was dismantled and the 340th relocated to PaestumAirfield on March 23, 1944. Now[when?] overgrown with vegetation, Pompeii Airfield's main...
later, the squadron flew into the French Port Lyautey Airfield, relocating to Casablanca Airfield on 17 November. It operated with Twelfth Air Force in...
securing of the Port Lyautey airfield on 10 November the launch from Chenango began and was successful but the airfield's runways were so damaged that...
Hunter, and Stalker fly off 26 Supermarine Seafires to operate from Paestumairfield in the Salerno beachhead, then withdraw to Palermo, Sicily, to refuel...
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eruption of Mount Vesuvius in March 1944 when the 340th was based at Pompeii Airfield near Terzigno, Italy, just a few kilometers from the base of the mountain...
aircraft on the air and ground. After the 33d moved out to Paestum on the Italian mainland, the airfield was used by the 61st Troop Carrier Group, which operated...
Gaudo Airfield Gaudo Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Southern Italy, approximately 3 km north of Paestum, where the neolithic...
2016. Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF...
Major General Fred L. Walker's U.S. 36th Infantry Division approached the Paestum shore at 03:30 a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English:...
end of the 4th millennium BC, whose typesite necropolis is located near Paestum, not far from the mouth of the river Sele. Its name comes from the Spina-Gaudo...
German aircraft were shot down. Once an airstrip had been built ashore at Paestum on, five of the squadron's Seafires were operated from the airstrip until...
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