Castel Volturno

41°02'12"N 013°57'38"E (Approx)

runway: 15/33 - ....x..m - PHS/SMT

Castel Volturno Airfield was a military airfield located approximately 35km northwest of Naples, Italy.
The airfield was an all-weather temporary field built in 1943 by the XII Engineering Command of the United States Army Twelfth Air Force using a graded earth compacted surface with a prefabricated hessian (burlap) surfacing known as PHS. PHS was made of an asphalt-impregnated jute which was rolled out over the compacted surface over a square mesh track (SMT) grid of wire joined in 3-inch squares. Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) was also used for parking areas and dispersal sites when it was available. Dumps for supplies, bombs, ammunition, gasoline drums, drinking water, and an electrical grid for communications and lighting were also constructed. Tents were used for billeting and support facilities, and an access road was built to connect the airfield facilities with existing roads.


31st Fighter Group Spitfires lining up for the runway at Castel Volturno (aviano.af.mil).

The Twelfth's 31th Fighter Group, while transitioning from Spitfires to P-51 Mustangs, occupied the airfield from January through April 1944. 31FG provided cover for the Allied landings at Anzio, patrolling the area in support of American forces. The group encountered significant Luftwaffe resistance and between 22 and 31 January they destroyed 12 enemy aircraft. 27FG was stationed at the field during April and May 1944, flying A-36 Apaches, the air-to-ground version of the P-51.
The airfield closed in June 1944 and was dismantled soon after.

Nothing remains of the former airfield. References to buildings on the end of the former runway and two blister hangars (visible in 2004) on Wikipedia could not be confirmed by aerial photography from 2002. The old World War II airfield is not recognisable from the air and should not be confused with the nearby Italian Air Force installation of Grazzanise (ICAO: LIRM).


Castel Volturno in June 2002 (Google Earth)


Castel Volturno in July 2004, the new buildings seem to be the ones talked about in the Wikipedia article (Google Earth)


Castel Volturno in July 2010, even more buildings were added (Google Earth).