Souk-el-Arba Airfield

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Souk-el-Arba airfield complex
Logo of the Royal Air Force.svg   Twelfth Air Force - Emblem (World War II).png
Part of Royal Air Force and Twelfth Air Force
Coordinates36°29′N 08°48′E﻿ / ﻿36.483°N 8.800°E﻿ / 36.483; 8.800
TypeMilitary airfield complex
Site information
ConditionReturned to civilian uses
Site history
BuiltVarious dates up to 1943
In use(By Allied forces) November 1942 to about August 1943
Souk-el-Arba Airfield is located in Tunisia
Souk-el-Arba Airfield
Souk-el-Arba Airfield
Location of Souk-el-Arba Airfields, Tunisia

The Souk-el-Arba Airfields are a pair of World War II military airfields in Tunisia, located near what was at the time the village of Souk-el-Arba but since 1966 has been known as Jendouba. The location is approximately 130 km west-southwest of Tunis.

Souk-el-Arba I[edit]

The original airfield, which pre-dates Operation Torch, was located immediately to the south-east of the town and was captured by paratroops of the British 1st Parachute Brigade on 16 November 1942.[1]

Within days, Souk-el-Arba I was used by the Royal Air Force, an example being No.255 Squadron.[2]

Souk-el-Arba II[edit]

The second airfield was constructed later by US military engineers, located about 4 km to the South-West of the town [3] and used primarily by American bombers.

Souk-el-Arba II was a temporary airfield constructed by Army Engineers using compacted earth for its runway, parking and dispersal areas, not designed for heavy aircraft or for long-term use.


After the Americans moved east to Sicily in August, the airfield was closed and dismantled. Today, the former main runway is visible in aerial photography and, other than two hangars south of the runway, no buildings or physical features remain.


  • Johnson, Kenneth M. Capt. USAAF. "My stretch in the Service, book III". Personal collection of Jeffrey M. Johnson, 1943


  1. ^ Kurowski, F. (1982) Endkampf in Afrika, Leoni-am-Starnberger See:Druffel-Verlag, p.54. ISBN 3806110247 (German language).
  2. ^ The National Archives of the UK : AIR27/1518 folio 117 side 1.
  3. ^ Luftwaffe aerial photograph: