The airfield had been an Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica), seized by the United States Army during the Invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), and used as part of Sicilian Campaign and the Allied Invasion of Italy in 1943.

When the Axis Forces were driven out of Cyrenaica during Operation Crusader in December 1941, they could no longer fly in supplies from Crete to Derna.

Instead, the Regia Aeronautica and German Luftwaffe began flying transport missions from airfields in Sicily, including Castelvetrano.

On 4 January 1942 Castelvetrano was attacked by a force of Royal Air Force Blenheim IV bombers flying from Luqa airfield on Malta, which caught 75 aircraft 'parked wing-tip to wing-tip ... the airfield was left a smoking ruin'.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency