Validation date: 14 05 2016
Updated on: Never
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Casabianda airfield was a part of the USS Corsica group of airfields. It was located on 77 hectares of terrain designed to accommodate air base operations as secretly as possible. It was assigned to the Air department by decree of 17 April 1937, but not published in the Official Journal.
1944 Map of the airfield.
On 14 August 1944, the British aircraft carrier HMS Pursuer delivered 4 Hellcat fighters to the airfield, just before that carrier took part in Operation Dragoon. During that operation, two Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenants (WTR Smith and RP Gibson) failed to land at the carrier. They were forced to ditch and were rescued by a Catalina rescue plane which took them to Corsica. Both airmen each used one of the four spare Hellcats to return to their carrier via Casabianda airfield.
On 6 February 1947 the airfield was closed. No known official list carries any indication of its existence as a former airfield.
1951 Aerial photo of the former airfield. Some taxiways are still reconizable. (geoportail.fr)
(Research by Olivier)