Melacha ?

[ouidjat]

Gents,

In his JG77 book Dr. Prien did publish a long list of Bf109s found in "Melacha".
No Melacha on Google, no Melacha either in WWII-Photo-Maps ...

Melacha was cited in I.A.2.(g) British reports.
So, please, where is "Melacha"???

Thanks for your help.

Best regards, Franck.

[Larry deZeng]

Franck,

Lacking dates or other information, and assuming this is a misspelling since there does not seem to be a place name spelled MELACHA, I am going to go out on a limb and make a guess:

Tripoli-Mellaha (LIB) (32 53 N – 13 16 E)
General: landing ground and later air base in NW Libya 8.5 km E of Tripoli. Constructed by the Italians in 1923 adjacent to Mellaha salt lake (home of the Tripoli Grand Prix since 1925). Captured by the British 8th Army in Jan 43 and used by the Allies until the end of the war. Renamed Wheelus Army Air Field in May 1945 and then Wheelus Air Base in June 1948.

If this does not look right to you, let me have the Gruppe of JG 77 and the exact date and I will see if I can come up with something better.

L.

[ouidjat]

Larry,

By the contrary; sounds perfect. I was expecting something like that but from Melacha to Mellaha there is too much distance for Google!

January 1943 (22/01/1943) matches perfectly.
Nothing to do with JG77 in particular. Just a list among other lists given by Dr. Prien in his JG77 Book.(pages 1832 & 1833)

This is not what I was dreaming of, to confort one "theory" but I will do with that anyway.

Thanks very much Larry. Very helpful.

Best regards, Franck.

PS; Actual Mitiga International Airport.

[ouidjat]

Humm...

That's the proof that after being accidented (20%) in 12/1942 at Arco Philonearum, <<<+ of Stab JG 77, WNr.10645, got strengh enough to be discovered by RAF troops at Melacha (Mellaha) on 21/01/1943.

That's the proof, too, that aircraft are made to fly. Some use to forget it some times to times .

I'm kidding... But that's true.

Cheers, Franck.

[Larry deZeng]

Franck,

I am guessing the 109 was flown or taken there to have the damaged parts replaced. There were two parts issuing and salvage units at Mellaha in January 1943:

Flieger-Geräteausgabe- und Sammelstelle 1/VII (Jun 42 – Jan 43);
Flieger-Geräteausgabe- und Sammelstelle 7/XII (Apr-Jul 42, Dec 42 – Jan 43).

L.

[ouidjat]

Hello Larry,

Thank you.
And where can I get this kind of informations ... except here ... Once a year ?

[Larry deZeng]

Seriously?

Basically, information on the Luftwaffen-Bodenorganisation units in North Africa can be found in 4 sources:

1) ULTRA - especially HW5;
2) KTB u. Anlagen d. Luftgaustab z.b.V. Afrika;
3) a small number of surviving and captured documents; and,
4) P/W interrogations - especially those carried out by C.S.D.I.C.

That's about it. There are no OoB lists to speak of, so it's necessary to go through tens of thousands of pages of material.

L.

[ouidjat]

Seriously ... I don't know but curiosity for sure.
I was expecting a publication title for example
or
something in Holme's site. Lot of things about "ground units" but no "Flieger-Geräteausgabe- und Sammelstelle".... And, of course, no Mellaha in the index.

Thanks Larry.