Insalah, (In Salah or in modern spelling Ain Salah) is an oasis town in central Algeria and in Biggles' time a French military outpost. It is located on what was once a major trans-Saharan caravan route and is today a fairly large settlement with a population of some 32,000. In Salah airport (ICAO: DAUI) is located northeast of the town and is today a moden airport with a paved 3000m runway.
Biggles and Insalah[]
Insalah occurs several times in Biggles Works It Out. Marcel makes enquiries about his mystery DC-3 here. From here he hears that Two French aircraft have disappeared over the Ahagger mountains to the southeast. Marcel used Insalah as a base for a phiot-reconnaissance of El Asile. When Algy and Bertie escaped from El Asile, their intention was to head for Insalah, suggesting that this is the closest point of civilisation. Bigglesa and Marcel used Insalah as their jump off point for their raid on El Asile.
We do not know much about the history of Insalah Airport but the earliest photos of the airport date from the mid-1950s and so we can assume it was only built after the events in Biggles Works It Out. Older documents, such as an Air Atlas dated 1931[1] and a later one dated 1948[2] indicate a landing ground 5 km west of the town at around 27°11'N 2°27'50"E on the road between Insalah and Aoulef. This also agrees with a US Army map dated Nov 1942 which shows an "emergency field" west of the town. The landing field is reportedly 800m x 800m and marked by a white chalk circle.
Section of US Army map dated Nov 1942 showing Insalah in the centre. The cross marks an "emergency field".
In this satellite photo, the town of In Salah is the sprawl of buildings right of centre. The marker is placed at 27°11'N 2°27'50"E where the landing field was. Still a barren piece of land today. Above it is the road from In Salah to Aoulef. The modern airport is off the picture to the top right.
References[]
- ↑ International Aeronautic Federation, and (Paris) Imprimerie Crété s.a.. International Air Guide: the Reference Book On Civil And Commercial Aviation. Paris: Imprimerie Crété s. a., 1931.
- ↑ jwhshd's Flickr album on In-Salah