Kattavia Airfield
Kattavia Airfield Αεροδρόμιο Κατταβιάς | |||||||||||
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 The old military prison. | |||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Location | Kattavia, Rhodes | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 35°56′27.1″N 27°46′43.6″E / 35.940861°N 27.778778°ECoordinates: 35°56′27.1″N 27°46′43.6″E / 35.940861°N 27.778778°E Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed. | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
  Kattavia Airfield Location in Greece | |||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Kattavia Airfield (Greek: Αεροδρόμιο Κατταβιάς) or Cattavia Airfield (Italian: Aeroporto di Cattavia) was a military airfield built in the late thirties on the island of Rhodes near the village of Kattavia, when it was part of the Italian Dodecanese.
History
The airfield was built in 1937 by the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force) as a reserve and had the military code 805. It consisted of a simple macadam landing strip set up as an alternative stopover to the airports of Maritsa and Kalathos in the event of an enemy attack. It depended on the Aegean Air Force Command of Rhodes and until the early 1940s was garrisoned only by a few airmen.
The use of the airfield started during the first days of February in 1941 with the deployment of the Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 from Maritsa. With the arrival of the first planes, a few days later on the night of February 13, a bombing followed by four Vickers Wellington of the RAF.[1]
The airfield was also used as a transit for the Luftwaffe during the German attack on Crete in May 1941.[2]
On 8 September 1943 the airfield was the scene of bitter fighting between Italian and German forces. Although they were successful in repelling the Germans, and even taking a large number of them captive, they had to surrender on 11 September 1943. They did not do so before blowing up the installation. After 11 September the Germans used the facilities of the airfield as a POW camp for the Italians. Conditions were appalling, with the Italian soldiers subjected to malnutrition, violence and torture.
Present-day
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The runway is easily identifiable from satellite images but is barely distinguishable from the surrounding hills. It has a series of deep craters along the runway, with a diameter between 6 m and 10 m, and is partially covered by shrubs and vegetation. The macadam flooring still present is in a poor state of conservation like the old silk factory used as prison. The area is occasionally used by the Hellenic Army for training.
See also
References
- ↑ Alexis Mehtidis. Air War Over Greece & Albania 1940-41. p. 30. ISBN 0977607267. Search this book on
- ↑ "Forgotten airfields europe". www.forgottenairfields.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
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