Foggia Airfield Complex

Foggia Airfield Complex
Map of World War II Airfields within 40 m (25 miles) of Foggia (Click on map to enlarge)
Type	Military airfields
Site history
Built	1920s-1944

The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a 40 km (25 mi) radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy. The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the strategic bombardment campaign against Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945, as well as by Twelfth Air Force and the Royal Air Force during the Italian Campaign (1943–1945).

Before World War II, the Italian Royal Air Force Regia Aeronautica constructed a series of airfields in the Foggia area. They consisted of hard-surfaced runways and taxiways, concrete parking areas and permanent buildings for the support units and barracks.

After the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces in September, 1943 these airfields were seized by the German Luftwaffe. While under Axis control, the airfields were heavily bombed by the United States Army Air Force and Royal Air Force in 1943 before being seized by the British Eighth Army in October 1943 during the Italian Campaign.

After the area was captured, the facilities were repaired by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to make them usable for heavy bomber operations by the new Fifteenth Air Force. Weather in southern Italy was much better than in England where the Eighth Air Force was conducting daylight strategic bombing of Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany. Using the Foggia Airfield Complex for strategic bombing missions would allow Allied heavy bombers to attack targets in France, Germany, Austria and the Balkans which were inaccessible from England. In addition to the air forces, Foggia was a major Allied command center for ground forces in southern Italy and naval forces operating in the Adriatic Sea, with numerous headquarters being assigned.