Vesuvius Airfield
Encyclopedia
Vesuvius Airfield is an abandoned World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 military airfield in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, located approximately 2 km east-northeast of San Giuseppe Vesuvianom about 21 km east of Naples.

It was an all-weather temporary field built by the 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 tactical light bombers of the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force 47th Bombardment Group.

The 47th first arrived at the airfield on 10 January 1944, however it had to abandon the field on 22 March 1944 due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...

 which severely damaged the field and several A-20 Havoc aircraft. The group was evacuated to Capodichino Airport near Naples for several weeks until they returned to the repaired base on 25 April, remaining until 10 June 1944.

When the 47th pulled out, the airfield was dismantled and abandoned. Today, the location of the field can not be precisely determined, as the suburbs of Naples have expanded and the area where it was located is now developed.
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