Jeshwang Airfield

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The airfield Jeshwang is a former airfield in the West African country Gambia .

history

South Atlantic Air Mail Service: Thu J II f Bos D-AFAR "Samum" near Bathhurst (1938)

The German Lufthansa in 1932 acquired a piece of land in the then British colony of Gambia in Kombo-St. Mary Area , near Bathurst (from 1973: Banjul ) in Jeshwang . At that time, Lufthansa offered passages to the United States on airships and Dornier flying boats. This new base in Africa was needed so that Lufthansa could offer fast connections to South America .

Lufthansa expanded the acquired land into an airfield and was operated for four years from 1934 until the outbreak of the Second World War . On its maiden flight from Frankfurt to Brazil, the Zeppelin LZ 127 made a stop in Jeshwang in 1934 . Jeshwang airfield was served by Lufthansa from airships and Dornier Wal flying boats on the transatlantic route to Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). In addition to the flying boats that used the waters off Bathurst, catapult ships were put into service for the route. In the second half of 1934 Lufthansa signed an agreement with the Gambian government that allowed it to transport airmail between Bathurst and the United Kingdom.

From the end of the 1930s, British South American Airways used the paved landing area near Jeshwang for their flight connections to Brazil.

During the Second World War in June 1941 the No. 200 Squadron RAF stationed in Jeshwang and relocated to the expanded Yundum airfield (later: Banjul International Airport ) in 1943 . Until when the Jeshwang airfield was used is not exactly documented, but the airfield was abandoned before 1955. The site in Jeshwang was later abandoned and built over.

location

The area was located west of today's Sait Matty Road and - like the streets - was oriented 315 ° and reached in the south to today's Banjul-Serekunda Highway . It was around two kilometers long.

Incidents

  • On March 12, 1937, a Heinkel He 111 with the name “Rostock” (D-ALIX), loaded with airmail, crashed near Bathurst. The four crew members were not found.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Philip Sweeny, Michel Renaudeau: Gambia and Senegal 1997, ISBN 3-8268-1392-8
  2. ^ A b J. M. Gray: A History Of The Gambia Frank Cass & Co. Ltd., 1940
  3. ↑ 200 Squadron RAF , accessed July 2011
  4. ↑ a b map around 1955
  5. ^ Disaster in Gambia March 12, 1937 , accessed July 2011

Coordinates: 13 ° 27 ′ 42 "  N , 16 ° 40 ′ 15"  W.