RAF Ta Kali

Royal Air Force Ta Kali was a Royal Air Force fighter operations base located on the island of Malta, which started life in 1940 as a diversion airstrip for the main operating bases such as RAF Luqa.

[1] Other diversion airstrips similar in function to Ta Kali were located at RAF Hal Far and on Malta's second island of Gozo at Xewkija airfield.

The original airfield was built on a dried lake bed in the interior of the island on a reasonably featureless plain situated between Rabat and Valletta.

[4] The following units were also here at some point: RAF Ta Kali remained a target for Axis aircraft attacks during the height of the siege.

601, 609 and 613 Royal Auxiliary Air Force Squadrons all deployed to Ta' Qali with their Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Vampire fighter aircraft during annual summer training camps in the early 1950s.

Aerial imagery of RAF Ta Kali in 1942, showing extensive bomb crater damage and trackways to aircraft dispersals.
A Hawker Hurricane of 261 Squadron at RAF Ta Kali in 1941.
A Supermarine Spitfire of 249 Squadron at RAF Ta Kali in 1942.
A Gloster Meteor T7 of 613 Squadron at RAF Ta Kali in 1952.