Wheelus Air Base was a United States Air Force base located in British-occupied Libya and the Kingdom of Libya from 1943 to 1970. At one time it was the largest US military facility outside the US. It had an area of 52 km2 (20 sq mi) on the coast of Tripoli. The base had a beach club, the largest military hospital outside the US, a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley and a high school for 500 students. The base had a radio and TV station, and a shopping mall and fast food outlets. At its height it had over 15,000 military personnel and their dependents. Wheelus Air Base was originally built by the Italian Royal Air Force in 1923 and was known as Mellaha Air Base. Today the facility is known as Mitiga International Airport.
North American F-86F-20-NH Sabre AF Serial No. 51-13168 of the 431st FIS.
North American F-86D-50-NA Sabre AF Serial No. 52-10054 of the 431st FIS.
North American F-100D-65-NA Super Sabre AF Serial No. 56-2967 of the 20th FBW at Wheelus AB.
Image: Wh 7270abw
The Kingdom of Libya, known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa that came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a bloodless coup d'état on 1 September 1969. The coup, led by Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew King Idris and established the Libyan Arab Republic.
Idris I
King Idris I of Libya
Al Manar Royal Palace in central Benghazi, the University of Libya's first campus, founded by royal decree in 1955.
King Idris with U.S. vice-president Richard Nixon in March 1957. Libya sought cordial relations with the West.
