Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield
| Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War | |||||||
Colonel David Stirling with Lt Edward McDonald and other SAS soldiers in North Africa, January 1943. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
United Kingdom Free France | Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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David Stirling Carol Mather Paddy Mayne | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
18 armed jeeps Special Air Service | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
37 aircraft destroyed
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The Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield was a military operation carried out the night of 26 July 1942. A British Special Air Service unit commanded by Major David Stirling attacked a German-held airfield in Egypt during the Western Desert Campaign of Second World War. Several Luftwaffe aircraft used to ferry supplies to the Axis forces were destroyed or damaged with machine-gun fire and explosives. Axis front line units were diverted to reinforce the garrisons in the rear vulnerable to attack.