Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders)

Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45

Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders)

By Henry L. deZeng IV

Edition: June 2014 -

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Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45

Copyright ? by Henry L. deZeng IV (Work in Progress). (1st Draft 2014)

Blanket permission is granted by the author to researchers to extract information from this publication for their personal use in accordance with the generally accepted

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Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45

Airfields

Germany (1937 borders)

Introduction

Preface

Germany lost use of her aviation assets after World War I as prescribed by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Article 198. The majority of the existing airfields were closed by the Inter-Allied Armistice Commission and sat vacant until 1924 when aviation activity slowly resumed.

The initial planning for a new network of secret military airfields began between 1924 and 1927 using the development of civil airports, unimproved landing grounds used by civil sport flying clubs and numerous civil emergency landing sites as cover. Gradually over the following years, as the Versailles restrictions became less enforced and Germany strengthened, these approximately 100 airports and roughly 150 unattended landing grounds and sites were improved into what would become military airfields by the mid-1930's.

The next major event affecting the country's aviation ground organization was in 1935 when it was decided to develop a number of camouflaged, unoccupied airfields for the use of operational units should the Third Reich decide to annex by force or invade neighboring states. These were called Einsatzhafen (operational airfield) and were classified as E-Hafen I with better and more infrastructure and E-Hafen II with less infrastructure. From this date forward, the airfield organization in Germany developed rapidly.

The Luftwaffe's mobilization plan of 1 July 1939 called for the following to be operational by 1 September 1939:1

64 Leithorste (large, well-established controlling airdromes) 119 Fliegerhorstkommandanturen A

10 Fliegerhorstkommandanturen B

1 NARA WashDC RG 242, T-321 roll 104/530-38.

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Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45

4 Fliegerhorstkommandanturen C 81 E-Hafen I 38 E-Hafen II 19 Other Airfields (e.g., Feldflugplatz or field airstrip)

6 See-Flugst?tzpunkte (seaplane stations) Total: 341 airfields of various types not including emergency landing grounds. This number had more than doubled by 1945.

There were no or very few concrete runways in Germany at the beginning of the war on 1 September 1939, but from then to June 1940 an urgent program commenced to lay down concrete runways and servicing hardstands at certain airfields in NW Germany intended for use by bombers. The program was then halted and little was done to improve the airfields in the country for the next two years, except for airfield construction activity in Pomerania and West and East Prussia in conjunction with the planned attack on the Soviet Union. It was then resumed with considerable urgency around mid-1943 as Allied air power began building over the German homeland. Dispersal areas were constructed for aircraft, remote dispersals set up, runway improvements made and, from mid-1944 to the end of the war, the lengthening and paving of numerous runways to make them serviceable for jet aircraft.

Conventions

Germany's borders in 1937 were chosen because this was the last year before the Third Reich began annexing large amounts of territory from its neighbors, i.e., Austria and Czechoslovakia. Those airfields that meet this definition can be found below. See the General Introduction for further information.

Airfields Listed

A total of 1,127 airfields of all types are listed plus numerous satellite fields, dummy airfields, city garrisons and cross-reference entries. It must be noted that for various reasons many of these airfields belonged to the Luftwaffe but were not actively used during the war or used only occasionally.

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Luftwaffe Airfields 1935-45

A

Aachen-Merzbr?ck (GER) (50 49 20 N ? 06 11 15 E)

General: airfield 9 km NE of Aachen in North Rhine ? Westphalia and 1.6 km E of Weiden. History: 1932 listed as a secondary civil airport (Flughafen II). Taken over by the Luftwaffe in the late 1930's, and in 1940 used as an operational airfield (Einsatzhafen) for the campaign in the West, then little used until Oct 43. Taken over by the USSAF on 14 March 1945. Surface and Dimensions: grass with no paved runway. Measured approx. 640 x 685 meters (700 x 750 yards) and roughly square in shape. Operational Units: 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 23 (Apr-May 40); IV.(Stuka)/LG 1 (May 40); Stab, I., II./St.G. 77 (May 40). Station Commands: none identified. Lw. Garrison and Station Units (on the airfield, in the city or nearby ? not complete): schw.Flak-Abt. 212(v) (Apr 41 ? 1942); Stab/schw.Flak-Abt. 514(o) (as Flakgruppe Aachen) (1943 ? Sep 44); schw.Flak-Abt. 525 (Eisb.) (Apr-Jun 44); schw.Flak-Abt. 535 (Eisb.) (May-Jul 44); le.Flak-Abt. 889 (mid-43 ? Sep 44). [Sources: AFHRA A5257A pp.584-638 (10 Sep 44); chronologies; BAMA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]

Achern (GER) (c. 38 48 04 N ? 08 03 51 E)

General: tactical landing ground (Gefechtslandeplatz) in BadenW?rttemberg 18 km SSW of Baden-Baden in SW Germany. History: 1940 listed as a Gefechtslandeplatz. 1941 listing upgraded to operational airfield (Einsatzhafen). No further information or mention of wartime use by the Luftwaffe found. [Sources: Ries/Dierich; chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]

Achmer (GER) (a.k.a. Achmer-Bramsche) (52 22 30 N ? 07 55 15

E) General: Fliegerhorst (air station or air base) 15 km NW of Osnabr?ck in Lower Saxony in NW Germany, 5.2 km SW of Bramsche, 2.8 km S of Achmer village and just a few kilometers from the airfields at Hesepe and V?rden. History: construction began in 1936 and was completed in 1939, with additions and improvements continuing to 1944. First use by a flying unit dates from August 1940 (10.(Erg.)/KG 2 with Do 17s). Achmer was essentially a bomber base until 1943 and then a fighter base after that. Dimensions: approx. 2380 x 1370 meters (2600 x 1500 yards). Surface and Runways: three camouflaged concrete runways in the form of a triangle measuring 1,800 meters plus a 550 meter prepared

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