Foggia Airfield Complex The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia , in the Province of Foggia , Italy . The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the strategic bombardment campaign against Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945 , as well as by Twelfth Air Force and the Royal Air Force during the Italian Campaign ( 1943 – 1945 ) . History . Before World War II , the Italian Royal Air Force Regia Aeronautica constructed a series of airfields in the Foggia area . They consisted of hard - surfaced runways and taxiways , concrete parking areas and permanent buildings for the support units and barracks . After the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces in September , 1943 these airfields were seized by the German Luftwaffe . While under Axis control , the airfields were heavily bombed by the United States Army Air Force and Royal Air Force in 1943 before being seized by the British Eighth Army in October 1943 during the Italian Campaign . After the area was captured , the facilities were repaired by the United States Army Corps of Engineers ( COE ) to make them usable for heavy bomber operations by the new Fifteenth Air Force . Weather in southern Italy was much better than in England where the Eighth Air Force was conducting daylight strategic bombing of Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany . Using the Foggia Airfield Complex for strategic bombing missions would allow Allied heavy bombers to attack targets in France , Germany , Austria and the Balkans which were inaccessible from England . In addition to the air forces , Foggia was a major Allied command center for ground forces in southern Italy and naval forces operating in the Adriatic Sea , with numerous headquarters being assigned . In addition to the captured airfields , several temporary and semi - permanent airfields were constructed for operations by both Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force units . These airfields , by and large , consisted of grass or Pierced Steel Planking runways and parking and dispersal areas , with support structures were quickly constructed out of wood or tents , along with ( if needed ) a temporary steel control tower . Six - man tents were used for billeting , lined up in rows with the orderly room and the mess hall at one end . There was one , dimly lit , light bulb at the center of each tent . The tent floor was grass or more commonly , dirt . Eventually plywood was scavenged for flooring , wooden cots were used for beds , and ubiquitous 55 - gallon drums were converted into a stoves and other items . As many of these airfields were captured from the Italians and Germans , wrecked enemy aircraft were a common sight , with metal from their fuselages and wings , glass and other useful parts finding their way into the support areas . By mid - 1944 , about two dozen airfields were in operation in the Foggia area supporting strategic bombing missions ; escort missions ; tactical fighter operations , reconnaissance and air defense missions . Albert Speer , Hitler ' s Minister for Armaments , declared : With the end of the war in May 1945 , most of the airfields were abandoned and the land returned to the owners , or the Italian government . Today , most of the airfields are long since returned to agriculture , and little or no evidence remains of their use as wartime airfields . A few , however , still exist as commercial airports and one is still used by the Italian Air Force ( Aeronautica Militare ) . Airfields and units . The airfield complex consisted of the following major airfields . In addition , there were numerous axillary landing airstrips not listed