Aviation had early beginnings in Alexandria. As early as the 1933 Misr Airwork (or Misair) operated domestic flights between Cairo and Alexandria. In July 1933, it also opened a flying school there.[1] What is less clear is exactly where such aviation activities took place. The Alexandria Marine Airport is well documented but as for the landplanes, among contemporary accounts there are few mentions of the specific aerodrome or location used. Considering that El Nouzha Airport only opened in 1948, early flying must have taken place elsewhere. One possibility is Aboukir Airfield, which was an R.A.F. facility in existence since WW1 and which was a major base for both R.A.F. and Fleet Air Arm aircraft in WW2. There are some accounts of civil flying at Aboukir (also known as Abu Kir or Abu Qir), including the arrival and departure of Imperial Airways aircraft.[2][3]
Biggles and Aboukir[]
In Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D., Biggles and co. follow Carlos Scaroni and Max Grindler from Castel Benito to Alexandria. Scaroni and Grindler were travelling in an Italian Caproni airliner while Biggles and co. followed in their Mosquito and Spur. As these are all landplanes, they would most likely have landed at Aboukir. At Alexandria, Biggles and co. and the people they were following all stayed at the "Airport Hotel" (Imperial Airways typically opened hotels wherever their aircraft called, so the existence of a hotel at an airport where they served is plausible). After Scaroni and Grindler depart in a B.O.A.C. flying boat (from the Marine Air Port), Algy and Bertie had to hurry back to follow them in their Mosquito. Aboukir is some 21 km from Alexandria so this might have taken some time. As things turned out, they did not actually catch up with the flying boat until it is too late. Biggles and Ginger also pursued in the Spur and were also too late.
In The Sheikh and the Greek, Biggles and co. are in Alexandria, but using an amphibian. As such it is likely they would have prefered the more central location of the Alexandria Marine Airport.
In Biggles in the Orient, 666 Sqn arrive at Alexandria in a flying boat but transfer to a Wellington for the onward journey to Baghdad. So it is likely they were taken from the Marine Air Port to Aboukir for the connection.
Photographs of Aboukir are scare. See the link in the footnotes for some photographs.[4]
Alexandria is at the lower left. Aboukir is at easting 25 northing 55. Note the distance from the city.
A closer view of the same map. Aboukir is marked "Aerodrome", right of centre in the image.
Very little remains of the site today. The area is largely built up and occupied by buildings.
References[]
- ↑ The Aeroplane 30 March 1945, 365
- ↑ Chrystopher J. Spicer, The Flying Adventures of Jessie Keith "Chubbie" Miller: The Southern Hemisphere's First International Aviatrix, (Jefferson N.C.: McFarland, 2017), 34, ebook edition.
- ↑ Robert Byron, First Russia Then Tibet, (Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016), 124, ebook edition.
- ↑ Royal Navy Research Archive/R.N. Air Section Aboukir, HMS Nile II See this link for some photos of Aboukir. Note the location on the satellite photo appears wrong.
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