History
Originally a Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) airfield where later the first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War. The first Italian Military Parachute School was located at Castel Benito. The first troops trained were two Libyan battalions, the Libyan Parachute Battalion and the 1st National Libyan Parachute Battalion, of the Royal Colonial Corps.
After it was captured by the British, the airfield was renamed RAF Station Castel Benito and was used by a number of operational squadrons involved in the desert war, sometimes for only a few days or weeks at a time.
In 1952, the station was renamed RAF Idris in honour of the Libyan King Idrisat the request of the Libyan government. The station was used as a staging post for flights to and from the United Kingdom to the Middle East and Far East. It was also used in the 1950s as a base for aircraft using the Libyan desert bombing ranges (Tahuna) for practice. The station was closed in the late 1960s when the Libya became a republic.
Following the withdrawal of the RAF from Libya, the airfield became Tripoli Idris Airport. It is now known as Tripoli International Airport.
Read more about this topic: RAF Castel Benito
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“America is the only nation in history which miraculously has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)