Egypt - new airfield from WWII

[ursula]

hello all

I found an old airfield from WWII in the Western Desert. It is built the same way as "8 Bells" in the south of Gilf Kebir. with a lot of Shell jerrycans.

The name is either 0 HILL oder C HILL or Q HILL or ......

Does anybody know more about this landing ground?

byebye
Ursula

[ursula]

a view is on my page on Flickr

Airfield in the Western Desert | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[3M]

hello Ursula
congratulations for the new find !
I honestly think you are a daring desert explorer,
will contact Tarek soon but im curious about the western borders will be important to know:
Any encounters or spotting smugglers or illegal migrations?
Best regards from Egypt
Mahmoud

[ursula]

hi Mahmoud

nice to hear from you!
So you did not know this airport too? there were no car tracks at all - untill we came

Yes, we had one of these encounters...
at the east end of Wadi Assib we met 2 "libyans" hidden in the small barchanes and Tarek was speeding off like in a rallye...

all the best
Ursula

[3M]

no I did not know about it, you know 8b is quite famous and I guess the new one was not known despite all the efforts to trace back this area history
Also for the Libyans, one possibility that this is the season for falconry, birds of Europe they escape the cold weather and immigrate to Africa around September, they are hunted by poor Bedouins then sold to rich Bedouins to play with! The hunters area used to be in the great sand sea close to clayton camp , maybe they are on the hunt for birds ! or that’s what I hope
Best regards
Mahmoud

[andrasz]

Hello Ursula,

Well done! On my 1943 US Army Map Service Libyan Desert sheet there are two airfields marked, Cleft-Hill and Garth-Hill, your find must be one of the two. Send me an email, from the position I will be able to tell which one.

From your photos I see that the Tourist Police have excelled themselves...

Edit: No need to email, have found it on Google Earth, stands out quite clearly if you know where to look
It is indeed Garth-Hill aerodrome, one of the many emergency landing grounds on the air route leading to Kufra (8 Bells was one of them). Seems to be quite a bit off the regular route to the Gilf...

[ursula]

thanks - in the meantime I found it on the 1942 US Army Map too but no infos in the net at all.


yes, Tourist Police was really very exceptionnel this time
have you seen the accident and their machine guns?
just what one is looking for in the desert...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7266438...in/photostream

[andrasz]

Out of curiosity, how much time was wasted getting their car upright... ?

Regarding Garth Hill landing ground, I would be surprised if this name and the fact that the residence of Hubert Penderel (RAF officer, travel companion of Almasy and Bagnold) was in Garth, Pontardawe, Wales was pure coincidence...

[ursula]

no problem - our crew was very experienced!

- we lost much more time waiting for the officer and the Tourist Police Escort in
Bahariya and Dakhla,

- for a spare part for TP car no1 with new drivers/mecanos to
bring it to us into the Great Sandsea!

- and waiting for car no2 after the accident, car no1 was driven back to Bahariya

on the 6th day we arrived finally in the north of Gilf Kebir...

bye
Ursula

[ursula]

hi
in April I made another picture of the name of this landing ground
in the Western Desert

it is clearly readable " G HILL "


Ursula

[Tonyb42uk]

Andrasz,
Could I ask whether the US Army maps quote the Landing Ground No. (for example, LG.248) or a map reference for Garth Hill. I am trying to establish it's location with regard to some pre war RAF records.
Thank you, Tony

[Toyark]

Ursula
Question- sorry to jump in here
This is the oldest representation of a Figure-four dead fall rap I have seen.
Have you any indication of the age of the markings?

[andrasz]

Tony,

All the Landing Grounds are marked with blue crosses, and in SW Egypt all are named - e.g. Garth Hill, which clearly refers to the landing ground itself, not any topographical feature. The arrangement of the landing grounds clearly indicate that they were marked out in late 1932, when Penderel flew a number of reconnaissance missions across the Glf and down to Uweinat/Kissu (to support the Bagnold expedition).

In S.E. Libya some of the landing grounds are marked LG.nn, corresponding to the old Italian "Campo di Fortuna" numberings, going from 1-10 along the Gialo-Kufra-Uweinat route, while some others (e.g. "Kendall's", "Lazarus") clearly correspond to LRDG activities.

[andrasz]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

This is the oldest representation of a Figure-four dead fall rap I have seen.

Sorry, but that is a giraffe, even if a rather crude and partially eroded one. Can be anything from mid-Holocene to early historic, but the engravings in the Dakhla vicinity (as this one) are generally considered to be from late prehistory (4000-2000B.C.)

[ursula]

hi Bertrand - hi Andras
this Giraffe "lives" in the northern part of Gilf Kebir not near Dakhla.
I wonder if you can see also some kind of saddle on its back?
Ursula

PS what is a "Figure-four dead fall rap" ???