Marcianise Airfield is an abandoned World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 military airfield in southeast Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, which is located approximately 10 km north-northwest of Marcianise

Marcianise

Marcianise is a town and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, Italy.-History:In the area of the commune of Marcianise numerous tombs of Etruscan and Roman age have been excavated, although Oscan elements should have pre-existed. The origin of the today's city are uncertain...

 in the province of Caserta

Province of Caserta

The Province of Caserta is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta. The former royal palace of Caserta is located near to the city.It has an area of 2,639 km², and a total population of 879,342...

, Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

; about 32 km north-northwest of Naples. Built in 1943 by United States Army Engineers, the airfield was a large facility capable of handling heavy bombers built for Fifteenth Air Force

Fifteenth Air Force

The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

, which stationed B-17s at the field after the war, prior to their return to the United States. However its primary use was by Air Technical Service Command and by Twelfth Air Force tactical fighter bomber units during the Italian Campaign

Italian Campaign (World War II)

The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...

.

Major units stationed at Marcianise were:

• 86th Bombardment Group, 30 April-12 June 1944, A-36 Apache (12th AF)
• 97th Bombardment Group, 1-29 October 1945, B-17 Flying Fortress, (15th AF)
• 99th Bombardment Group, 27 October–8 November 1945, B-17 Flying Fortress, (15th AF)

Closed by the Americans on 23 October 1945, today, the location of the airfield is an Italian military base, it's precise use is undetermined. The remains of the main runway can be seen on the base in aerial photography.