RAF Castel Benito

RAF Castel Benito RAF Idris
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Owner/Operator	Desert Air Force
Location	Near: Tripoli, Libya
Built	1938
Coordinates
Map
Location of RAF Castel Benito

RAF Castel Benito (later RAF Idris) was a Royal Air Force station near Tripoli in Libya between 1943 and 1966.

History

The airfield was first used by the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force), and it was where the first units of Italian parachutists trained and were formed shortly before the Second World War. The first Italian Military Parachute School was located at Castel Benito. The first troops trained were two Libyan battalions, the Libyan Parachute Battalion and the 1st National Libyan Parachute Battalion, of the Royal Colonial Corps.

In 1938 the Italian Libya governor Italo Balbo enlarged the military airfield and created an international airport for civilians, served by Ala Littoria: the Tripoli-Castel Benito Airport.

After it was captured by the British, the airfield was renamed RAF Station Castel Benito and was used by a number of operational squadrons involved in the desert war, sometimes for only a few days or weeks at a time.

In 1951, the station was renamed Tripoli Idris Airport. The name was chosen to honour the Libyan King Idris at the request of the Libyan government. The station was used as a staging post for flights to and from the United Kingdom to the Middle East and Far East. It was also used in the 1950s as a base for aircraft using the Libyan desert bombing ranges (Tahuna) for practice. The station was closed in the late 1960s when the Libya became a republic.

Following the withdrawal of the RAF from Libya, the airfield became Tripoli Idris Airport. It is now known as Tripoli International Airport.

Units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 6 Squadron RAF	1943	Hawker Hurricane	IID	Only stayed for six days
No. 73 Squadron RAF	1951	de Havilland Vampire	FB9
No. 73 Squadron RAF	1952	de Havilland Vampire	FB9	(RAF Idris)
No. 89 Squadron RAF	1943	Bristol Beaufighter	VIF
No. 92 Squadron RAF	1943	Supermarine Spitfire	VB and VC
No. 108 Squadron RAF	1943-1944	Bristol Beaufighter	VIF	Detached aircraft from RAF Luqa
No. 112 Squadron RAF	1943	Curtiss Kittyhawk	III
No. 117 Squadron RAF	1943	Lockheed Hudson and Douglas Dakota
No. 145 Squadron RAF	1943	Supermarine Spitfire	VB	Detached from Wadi Suri later based
No. 185 Squadron RAF	1952	de Havilland Vampire	FB5	(RAF Idris)
No. 208 Squadron RAF	1951	Gloster Meteor	FR9	Detached aircraft from Abu Sueir
No. 250 Squadron RAF	1943	Curtiss Kittyhawk	III
No. 260 Squadron RAF	1943	Curtiss Kittyhawk	III
No. 283 Squadron RAF	1944-1946	Vickers Warwick	I	Detached aircraft from Hal Far
No. 294 Squadron RAF	1943-1944	Vickers Wellington	IC
No. 318 Squadron RAF	1944	Supermarine Spitfire	VC
No. 417 Squadron RCAF	1943	Supermarine Spitfire	VC
No. 450 Squadron RAAF	1943	Curtiss Kittyhawk	III
No. 601 Squadron RAF	1943	Supermarine Spitfire	VC
No. 651 Squadron RAF	1943	Auster	I
No. 651 Squadron RAF	1948-1950	Auster		Based but later detached from Ismailia
No. 680 Squadron RAF	1943	Various (Electra/Spitfire/Hurricane)		Detached aircraft from LG219 (Photo Reconnaissance Unit)

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations
• Tripoli International Airport

References

Bibliography

• Jefford, Wing Commander C.G., MBE,BA,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
• Sturtivant, Ray, ISO and John Hamlin. RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0-85130-365-X.