The airfield was one of the first to be built in Palestine. It was constructed in 1917 for military use by the Ottoman Empire, with German assistance.[2]
RAF Gaza was used for passenger services by Imperial Airways from 1927 as a stop en route to Baghdad and further to Karachi or Batavia, correspondingly.[3]) and KLM (since 1933[4])[5][6] In the 1930s, an illustrated London magazine proclaimed that passengers overnighting at Gaza, hailed as "the gateway to the Holy Land", were staying where Samson had once removed the city gates.[7]
During the Second World War RAF Gaza was used by a number of RAF squadrons, including 33, 45, 127, 208, 318 and 451 Squadrons. No. 2 Air Crew Officers School RAF was based on the airfield, and the Greek Training Flight RAF was also based there in 1941–1942. The airfield was used as the Middle East ammunition depot from July to September 1942.[8]
RAF Gaza was on the site of the modern Karni crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel.[8] Although no remains of the airfield are visible today, the British concrete road linking the airfield with the ammunition storage areas (located about 6km (3.7mi) south of the airfield is visible and in good shape.[9]
Incidents
On February 14, 1930, an Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.66 Hercules (G-EBNA, City of Tehran) suffered a non-fatal landing mishap after the pilot misjudged the plane's altitude and struck a ridge 100 yards from the runway. The plane was damaged beyond repair. The incident took place during a passenger flight from Great Britain to India.[10]
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