History of Bir Dufan Airfield prior to February 1941 is unknown. The airfield was located in a remote area, positioned 9 km north of the small village of Bir Dufan, which is approximately 56 km south of Zliten and 65 km southwest of Misurata. Bir Dufan I Airfield was located at , while Bir Dufan II Airfield was located at . In February 1941,
Regia Aeronautica and
Luftwaffe units began operating from Bir Dufan Airfield for the first time. The airfield was upgraded to have six natural Sandy surface airstrips, all of which measuring approximately 1645 m long and 185 m wide, 1370 m long and 320 m wide, 870 m long and 685 m wide, 885 m long and 440 m wide, 825 m long and 705 m wide, and finally 1370 m long and 550 w wide. Fuel for aircraft was stored in barrels, while a nearby fort was utilized as accommodations for personnel. The airfield was equipped with 3 splinter protection shelters on the southern side, and corner and side markers were used to identify the landing ground.
Operations From 1941 until early 1942, Bir Dufan Airfield was used as an Italian forward bomber and attack base supporting Axis offensives in
Tripolitania. From late December 1942 until the first half of January 1943, Bir Dufan Airfield was heavily used by the Luftwaffe, operating as a fighter, ground-attack, and reconnaissance base, supporting
Fliegerführer Afrika operations during the Axis retreat. By January 1943, Bir Dufan Airfield operated as a forward landing ground, and the Luftwaffe began launching a full-scale effort to protect the airfield using recently repaired aircraft flown by newly arrived pilots. On 14 January 1943, the airfield was bombed, lightly damaging one stationary
Bf 109 G-2 belonging to the 3./JG 77.
Abandonment Following use by the Luftwaffe, the six airstrips were destroyed by plowing and mining from 15 to 17 January 1943. A
Junkers Ju 88 A-4 belonging to Erprobungstaffel/KG 30 was also destroyed to present capture, and Bir Dufan Airfield was abandoned after that. == Units ==