Kairouan Airfield

Kairouan Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, located approximately 11 km south-southeast of Kairouan, and 126 km south of Tunis. It was a major Troop Carrier unit base of the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign. The units known to be assigned to the base were:

52d Troop Carrier Wing, July–September 1943
61st Troop Carrier Group, 21 June-1 September 1943, C-47 Skytrain
64th Troop Carrier Group, 28 June-26 July 1943, C-47 Skytrain
313th Troop Carrier Group, 16 June-23 August 1943, C-47 Skytrain
314th Troop Carrier Group, 26 June-1 September 1943, C-47 Skytrain

From Kairouan, Operation Ladbroke, the British glider landing near Syracuse, Sicily. took place on the night of 9 July 1943 as part of the invasion of Sicily. On the night of 9/10 July 1943 a force of 144 Waco gliders, towed by US C-47, and British Handley Page Halifax and Albemarle tug aircraft, took off to take part in Operation Ladbroke – the first Allied attempt at a mass glider landing in World War II. The plan was to place a large invasion force on the ground near the town of Syracuse, secure the Ponte Grande Bridge and then take control of the city itself, including its strategically vital docks, as a prelude to the full-scale invasion of Sicily.
In addition, the Ninth Air Force 324th Fighter Group used the airfield in June 1943, flying P-40 Warhawks from the airfield.
By the end of September 1943, the C-47 groups had moved to Sicily and Kairouan was dismantled and abandoned. Today, one main runways can be seen in aerial photography, along with traces of taxiways and dispersal pads.