HMS Grebe

HMS Grebe was the Royal Navy designation for the prewar Alexandria airport, known as Dekheila, during its use in World War II as a shore base for aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA).[1] Coordinates are given as 31°08′0″N 29°48′0″E also known as LG-34, and renumbered as LG-235.

Greek pilots of the No. 335 Squadron RAF in front of a Hurricane IIc (Trop) at Dhekeila in 1942

History

Originally used as a shore base for aircraft flown ashore from aircraft carriers by the FAA (as HMS Nile II, under the control of HMS Nile), the airfield was taken over by the Royal Egyptian Air Force on the outbreak of World War II, but remained in use by the FAA. The field was subsequently loaned as a Naval Air Station on 16 September 1940, and commissioned as HMS Grebe, attached to HMS Nile, with a capacity of 72 aircraft. The field became self accounting on 1 April 1941, and acted as a base for all FAA units in Egypt and the Western Desert, as well as a fleet requirements unit. HMS Nile resumed control on 1 April 1943, retaining the name HMS Grebe. The field was reduced to a care and maintenance basis on 31 January 1946, before being returned to the control of Egypt on 18 March 1946.[2]

See also

References
  1. Page 444 Ray Sturtivant Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain (Historians) Ltd (1984) ISBN 0-85130-120-7
  2. Page 451 Ray Sturtivant Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm. Air Britain (Historians) Ltd (1984) ISBN 0-85130-120-7
  • RAF Squadrons by C.G. Jefford ISBN 1-84037-141-2 page 133


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