Validation date: 11 04 2014
Updated on: 25 09 2018
Views: 11215
See on the interactive map:
42°13'21.88"N 8°59'55.10"E
"USS Corsica" was not an airfield, but the nicname for a number of airfields on the french island of Corsica during World War II, much like the airfields on the Foggia Airfield Complex. They served the Allies as an unsinkable aircraft carrier off the French south coast and as such, they supported the Allied landings and tactical operations in the south of France.
After the collapse of France to the German Wehrmacht in 1940, Corsica came under the rule of the Vichy French regime, which was collaborating with the Nazis. In November 1942 the island was occupied by Italian and German forces because of the Anglo-American Landings in North Africa. Following the Italian armistice in September 1943, Italian and Free French Forces pushed the Germans out of the island, making of Corsica the first French Department to be freed. Subsequently, the US military established 17 airfields there, nicknamed "USS Corsica", which served as bases for American tactical bomber groups attacking targets in German-occupied Italy.
There were 17 airfields in Corsica that were part of USS Corsica.
Those built by the French before the war were:
Ajaccio Campu del Oru
Borgo (Bastia)
Corte (Still in use)
Casabianda
Calvi
Ghisonaccia-Gare
Others built by the Americans were
On the east coast:
Bevinco
Poretta (Bastia) (Still in use)
Serragia
Alto
Alesani
Aghione
Solenzara (Still in use)
On the west coast:
Calvi Sainte Catherine (Still in use)
Calenzana
Fiume Secco
In the center:
Ponte Leccia
And finally, there were a few small golf link sized airfields for Piper Cub:
Abbazia
Propriano (Still in use)
Porto Vecchio
Historical map of Corsica in September 1944 (USAAF, via AFHRC)