Châteaudun Air Base  Base aérienne 279 Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-39 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Châteaudun Air Base ATC Tower | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Government of France | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Armée de l'air | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Châteaudun, France | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 433 ft / 132 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 48°03′29″N001°22′35″E / 48.05806°N 1.37639°E /48.05806; 1.37639 | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  LFOC Location of Châteaudun Air Base | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Source:World Aero Data[1] | |||||||||||||||
Châteaudun Air Base (French:Base aérienne 279 Châteaudun) (ICAO:LFOC) was aFrench Air Force (French:Armée de l'Air base, between 1934 and 2014. The base was located approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) southeast ofChâteaudun and about 112 kilometres (70 mi) southwest ofParis. It is currently an airfield attached toOrléans – Bricy Air Base.
The base is primarily used for aircraft storage and ferrying them to other squadrons of the Air Force. Entrepot de l'Armee de l'Air 601 was assigned to perform this mission. Each French Air Force squadron stores some of its planes for a while thereby artificially prolong the life of the fleet and better material management. The EAA also has the task of storing new aircraft to be used in times of war. To fulfil its mission, the EAA has the Group Maintenance, repair and storage of aircraft (GERS).
ASAN Jodel D.140 Mousquetaire training aircraft is assigned to the base for courier duties.
The facility was aFrench Air Force base built in 1934. It was used by the air force for the storage of aircraft as well as a supply and maintenance depot. At the beginning ofWorld War II, the base had 643 aircraft, which gave it great importance. It became a priority target for theLuftwaffe during theBattle of France who bombed it heavily on 12 and May 19, 1940. On June 14, against the German advance, the airfield was abandoned.,[1] after the heroic sacrifice offlight lieutenantMarcel Beau.
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during theBattle of France, Châteaudun was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Under occupation, the German army, owner, undertook infrastructure projects including the construction of dispersal areas called "daisies" and the track. Chateaudun also served as a starting point for air raids on England. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):[1][2][3]
JG 21 and JG 54 fought in theBattle of Britain as fighter escort units; LG 1 was a training unit; KG 76 engaged in night bombardment operations overEngland, along with KG 40 and KG 100 to a limited extent due to fuel shortages; NJG2 was a night interceptor unit against RAF Bombers; KG 51 flew the jet Me 262A2a on day jet interceptor missions against American heavy bomber attacks.
Largely due to the presence of the Me 262, Châteaudun became a major target of USAAFNinth Air ForceMartin B-26 Marauder medium bombers andRepublic P-47 Thunderbolts mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps to attack the German jets on the ground. It was known that the Me 262 was relatively short-legged, with a relatively short flying radius, so the attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible on the jets to keep the jet interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also theP-51 Mustang fighter-escort groups ofEighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.[5]
Châteaudun was heavily attacked on several missions byUnited States Army Air ForceEighth Air Force bombers in 1943 and 1944.[6] It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 20 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the USAAF IX Engineering Command 832d and 833d Engineer Aviation Battalions began clearing the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft, and repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. Subsequently, Châteaudun became a USAAFNinth Air Force combat airfield, designated as "A-39" about 26 August, only a week after its capture from German forces.[7]
Under American control, Châteaudun initially became the home of numerous combat groups. Initially, the422d Night Fighter Squadron moved in and provided an air defense withNorthop P-61 Black Widows from 28 August to 16 September 1944. The Black Widows were replaced by theMartin B-26 Marauders of the387th Bombardment Group on 18 September, remaining until 30 October 1944. The last American combat unit to use the airfield was the10th Reconnaissance Group, which flew a variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft from the field during November 1944. With the combat units moving east with the front lines, Châteaudun became a transport airfield, with the439th Troop Carrier Group flyingC-47 Skytrains from the field from 4 November 1944 until 7 September 1945.[8]
The Americans returned control of the field to the French Air Force in September 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield.
In 1967, during the period of tension précéding theSix-Day War, fiftyDassault Mirage 5 jets ordered byIsrael were stored on the base of Chateaudun. The settlement of this dispute took place in 1971, with the aircraft being bought by theArmée de l'Air. On 13 June 1990, the base was named Lieutenant-Beau, rememberingLieutenantMarcel Beau, a pilot at Air Base 134 Versailles in 1935.
Today, the remains of World War II bomb craters are very evident in the grass areas of the airfield, as well as the abandoned 05/23 secondary runway in which the wartime patching with asphalt is still visible. On 2 July 2014, the installation was closed as an Air Force Base.[9]
In 2014, the base was linked to Air Force base Orléans-Bricy. Element Air Reattache 279 (EAR 279) retained the mission of aircraft storage, as well as aerial activity (the field being open two days a week). The unit also operates an aircraft deconstruction center.
On 26 January 2015, the2015 Los Llanos Air Base crash occurred. One of the nine French victims came from EAR 279.[10]
The air base operated units responsible for aircraft storage and transport to French Air Force squadrons, a computer center responsible for supporting logistics applications, a technical equipment management center, a technical study team for storage methods, a technical study team for battle damage repairs, and a local purchasing and procurement section.
From July 1, 1964 to July 7, 2017, the pilots of Convoy Squadron 70 "Châteaudun" were responsible for the movement of military aircraft between various entities: Air Force units, squadrons or warehouses, aeronautical industrial workshops (AIA), and even manufacturer sites.
The base hosted virtually every type of aircraft used by the French Air Force. The Socata TBM-700 was used primarily for transport missions, following the Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris, MS.760 Paris.[11]
There was aAir Military Training Center ("Air PM") there, during theconscription era, which provided future conscripts with the fundamentals of military training for assignment to an Air Force unit during their military service.
Astele commemorates the airmen of the Châteaudun Air Base, including those who died in service: Lieutenant Marcel Beau, Private Bernard Michel, Major Henri Perrot, and Second Lieutenant Barbara Rolfo.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
.svg)