{{Short description|Egyptian airforce helicopter base}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox military installation | name = Ismailia Air Base<br />RAF Ismailia<br/ >RAF Moascar | ensign = Flag of Egypt.svg | ensign_size = 70px | native_name = {{langx|ar|قاعدة الاسماعيلية الجوية}} | partof = | location = Ismailia, Ismailia Governorate | country = Egypt | image = 458 Squadron RAAF personnel Egypt 1942 AWM SUK10649.jpg | image_size = 275px | caption= Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at RAF Ismailia, 1942 | type = Air Base | coordinates = {{Coord|30|35|53.75|N|32|14|12.86|E|region:EG_type:airport|display=inline,title}} | pushpin_map = Egypt | pushpin_label = Ismailia Air Base | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Egypt | built = {{Start date|1915}} | used = 1915 - present <!--{{End date|2024}}--> | code = | height = | ownership = Ministry of Defense (Egypt) | operator = Royal Air Force<br/>United States Army Air Forces<br/>Egyptian Air Force | controlledby = Royal Air Force (1935-1956)<br/>Ninth Air Force (1942) <br/>Egyptian Air Force (1956 – present) | condition = | builder = | materials = | fate = | battles = World War II * Western Desert campaign <!--tertiary image --> | IATA = | ICAO = | FAA = | TC = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = {{Convert|11|m|0}} | r1-number = 13/31 | r1-length = {{Convert|980|m|0}} | r1-surface = Asphalt }} '''Ismailia Air Base''' ''{{Transliteration|ar|DIN|El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīyä}}'' is an air base of the Egyptian Air Force located approximately {{Convert|4|km}} west-northwest of the city of Ismailia; {{Convert|116|km}} northeast of Cairo, Egypt.

==History==

Ismailia was a pre-World War II station, originally opened by the British about 1915 as Moascar.

On 5–7 November 1938, RAF Vickers Wellesley aircraft set a non-stop distance record by flying from Ismailia to Darwin, Australia, a distance of 7,162 miles (11520.4&nbsp;km).

During World War II, the airfield, then known as '''RAF Ismailia''', continued to be used as a military airfield by the British Royal Air Force and also the United States Army Air Forces during the North African campaign against Axis forces.

==History== ; Royal Air Force {{columns-list|colwidth=50em| * No. 6 Squadron RAF between 28 October 1929 and 29 May 1936 with the Fairey Gordon, Hawker Hart and Hawker Demon{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=25}} * No. 11 Squadron RAF between 9 May and 16 June 1940 with the Bristol Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=27}} * No. 14 Squadron RAF initially between 23 November 1915 and 20 January 1917 with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C & E, Farman MF.11 Shorthorn, Martinsyde S.1, Martinsyde G.100 and Airco DH.1A the between 24 August and 19 December 1940 with the Vickers Wellesley{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=28}} * No. 30 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 9 July 1940 with the Blenheim I & IF{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=34}} * No. 33 Squadron RAF between 14 November 1936 and 21 October 1938 with the Hart and Gloster Gladiator I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=36}} * No. 38 Squadron RAF between 24 November and 7 December 1940 with the Vickers Wellington IC{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=37}} * No. 45 Squadron RAF between 3 January and 4 August 1939 with the Wellesley and Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=40}} * No. 55 Squadron RAF between 25 August 1939 and 11 June 1940 with the Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=42}} * No. 64 Squadron RAF between 9 April and 1 August 1936 with the Demon{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=45}} * No. 80 Squadron RAF between 10 May 1938 and 16 January 1939 with the Gladiator{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=49}} * No. 94 Squadron RAF between 22 April and 29 August 1941 with the Gladiator II and the Hawker Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=52}} * No. 113 Squadron RAF between 1 August and 10 October 1917 with the B.E.2E and the Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=56}} * No. 142 Squadron RAF initially between 2 February and 13 February 1918 with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12A then between 3 August and 5 November 1936 with the Hart{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=61}} * No. 208 Squadron RAF initially between 1 February 1920 and 28 September 1922 with R.E.8 and Bristol F.2B Fighter then between 26 September 1923 and 27 October 1927 with the F.2B{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=69}} * No. 211 Squadron RAF between 31 January and 10 August 1939 and Hawker Hind and Blenheim I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=70}} * Detachment from No. 213 Squadron RAF between July and December 1941 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=71}} * No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF between 6 February and 1 March 1942 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=75}} * Detachment from No. 274 Squadron RAF between February and April 1941 with the Hurricane I{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=82}} * No. 651 Squadron RAF between 10 November 1945 and 2 February 1946 with the Taylorcraft Auster V{{sfn|Jefford|1988|p=102}} }} ; United States Army Air Forces (Ninth Air Force) * 12th Bombardment Group October 1942-Undetermined (North American B-25 Mitchell) * 436th Troop Carrier Group, 13 August – 18 October 1942. Douglas C-47 Skytrain * 434th Bombardment Group, 14 August – 29 September 1942, B-25 Mitchell{{dubious|date=November 2013}} <ref>{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}} * Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. {{ISBN|0-89201-092-4}}. * {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}} </ref>

==Current use==

The base houses an Mil Mi-17 unit and is also being used for other military movements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scramble.nl/planning/orbats/egypt/egypt-air-force#HE10124|title=Egypt - Air Force - Al Ismailiyah|publisher=Scramble.nl|access-date=27 November 2024}}</ref>

==See also== * List of North African airfields during World War II

==References== {{Reflist}}

*{{cite book |last1=Jefford |first1=C.&nbsp;G. |title= RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912 |year=1988 |publisher= Airlife Publishing |location= Shrewsbury, UK |isbn= 1-85310-053-6 }}

==External links== * "Gladiator Ace" (2010), B. Cull, Haynes Publishing, p.&nbsp;20 -21. * [http://www.laetusinpraesens.org/guests/jwbj/jwb1.htm Royal Air Force Airfield Creation for the Western Desert Campaign]

==External links== {{Commons category-inline|RAF Ismailia}}

{{Royal Air Force}} {{USAAF 9th Air Force UK}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Airports in Egypt Category:World War II airfields in Egypt Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Egypt Category:Military airbases established in 1915