RAF Brüggen
Elmpt,North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany
Panavia Tornado GR1 ofNo. 17 squadron which was based at Brüggen.
To Seek and Strike[1]
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Owner	Ministry of Defence (UK)
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	British Forces Germany
Location
RAF Brüggen Shown within Germany
Coordinates	51°12′00″N6°7′46″E / 51.20000°N 6.12944°E /51.20000; 6.12944
Site history
Built	July 1952 (1952-07) – May 1953[2]
Built by	RAF Airfield Construction Branch
In use	June 1953 – 28 April 2002 (2002-04-28)
Fate	Transferred toBritish Army to become Javelin Barracks, Elmpt Station.
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: BGN,ICAO: EDUR
Elevation	73 metres (240 ft)AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 09/27 2,487 metres (8,159 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known asRAF Brüggen, (IATA:BGN,ICAO:EDUR)^[3][4] inGermany was aRoyal Air Force station until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village ofElmpt, approximately 43 kilometres (27 mi) west ofDüsseldorf on theDutch–German border. The base was named after the village ofBrüggen, the nearest rail depot. Construction began in mid-1952, which involved the clearing of forest and draining of marshland. The station became active in 1953 during the rapid expansion ofNATO forces in Europe.The main paint shop situated next to the main runway was responsible for the surface finishing of all aircraft, ground equipment and RAF Regiment Rapier missile systems. In 2002, it was handed over to theBritish Army and renamedJavelin Barracks.

In 1953, the 317 Supply and Transport Column arrived at RAF Brüggen fromUetersen. This followed the decision to supply all RAF stations in Germany through theport of Antwerp. In 1954 the unit was redesignated as a Mechanical Transport Squadron and was responsible for equipping and supplying all RAF stations in Germany andThe Netherlands. The unit remained at Brüggen until 1963, when it was amalgamated into theNo. 431 Maintenance Unit RAF which continued to operate until 1993. The demise of 317 MT Squadron marked the end of an era, as it had been on the continent shortly afterD-Day under its previous title of 317 Supply & Transport Column. It had built itself an enviable reputation and following the cessation of hostilities carried out convoys toPrague,Warsaw andMoscow. In the 1950 Review of the Royal Air Force, the unit was described as theCarter Paterson of theautobahns.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout its life, 317 carried out a number of humanitarian operations; the first being medical supplies toBergen-Belsen. This was followed in 1947 byOperation Woodpecker in which timber and peat were supplied to the civilian population of northern Germany^{[citation needed]} in one of the coldest winters on record.This was followed by the return of displaced persons andPOWs to their home towns and cities within theBritish Zone.^{[citation needed]}They were called upon again at the start of theBerlin Airlift (Operation Plain Fare), and lastly, in thewinter of 1962/3, the Squadron took a convoy of fuel trucks to theoil refineries inRotterdam for heating oil which was delivered to hospitals in Germany during the great freeze when the canals were inoperable.

Fromc.1954–1957 the fighter squadrons at Bruggen were 67, 71E, 112 & 130, equipped initially withCanadair Sabre F.4s, later re-equipped with theHawker Hunter F.4s. These squadrons were either redeployed or disbanded in 1957 with the arrival of 87 Squadron, equipped withGloster Javelin FAW.1s. The initial strike capability at RAF Brüggen was provided by theEnglish Electric Canberra from the summer of 1957. From 1969 to 1975 thePhantom FGR.2 operated in the strike/attack role and was replaced by theSEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 from 9 April 1975.^[5] The Jaguars were replaced by thePanavia Tornado GR.1 beginning on 13 June 1984. With a total of four Tornado GR.1 squadrons at Brüggen and four more at its nearby sister airbaseRAF Laarbruch, Brüggen and Laarbruch formed the largest Tornado force in NATO.^[2]Hardened Aircraft Shelters were equipped with the U.S.Weapon Storage Security System (WS3), each able to store up to 4WE.177 tactical nuclear bombs, for delivery by Tornado aircraft.^[5]

On 4 September 2007, theBritish military admitted that there had been an accident with anuclear weapon at RAF Brüggen on 2 May 1984.^[6][7] The nuclear weapon fell from a transport truck, as the missile wasn't securely attached to the truck. The weapon was eight times more powerful than the bomb that was dropped onHiroshima in 1945. The casing wasX-rayed after the incident, and found to have been undamaged. The six people who were responsible for the accident received a reprimand for their actions in the incident.^[8]

Followingreunification of Germany, the RAF announced plans to reduce its presence in the country by half. One major part of this was the reduction of Tornado squadrons in Germany from seven to four,No.9,No.14,No.17 andNo.31 squadrons. No.9, No.14 and No.31 squadrons took part in theGulf War, and later operated from Bruggen during NATO's air operations in theKosovo War, supported byVickers VC10 tankers.

The decision to remove all RAF assets from Germany was taken in 1996. As a result of theStrategic Defence Review No. 17 Squadron disbanded on 31 March 1999 and began the gradual drawdown of the base. No. 14 Sqn relocated toRAF Lossiemouth in January 2001. A formal ceremony on 15 June officially ended a continuous Royal Air Force presence in Germany sinceWorld War II and all of the remaining Tornados had left forRAF Marham by 4 September 2001.

• No. 9 Squadron RAF from 1 October 1986^[9] until July 2001) – operatingPanavia Tornado GR.1, GR.4.
• No. 14 Squadron RAF – operating:
  • Phantom FGR.2 between 1 July 1970 and 30 November 1975
  • SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 between 1 December 1975 and 1 November 1985
  • Panavia Tornado GR.4 from 1 November 1985^[10]
• No. 17 Squadron RAF – operating:
  • Phantom FGR.2 between 1 September 1970 and 30 January 1976
  • SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 between 1 February 1976 and 1 March 1985
  • Panavia Tornado GR.1 from 1 March 1985^[11]–99)
• No. 20 Squadron RAF – operating SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 between 1 March 1977 and 30 June 1984^[12]
• No. 25 Squadron RAF – operatingBristol Bloodhound missiles^[13]
• No. 31 Squadron RAF – operating:
  • Phantom FGR.2 between 20 July 1971 and 30 June 1976
  • SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 between 30 June 1976 and 1 November 1984
  • Panavia Tornado GR.1 from November 1984^[14]
• No. 67 Squadron RAF – operating:^[15]
  • Canadair Sabre F.4s between 5 July 1955 and March 1956
  • Hawker Hunter F.4s between January 1956 and 31 May 1957
• No. 71 Squadron RAF – operating:^[15]
  • Canadair Sabre F.4s between 7 July 1955 and May 1956
  • Hawker Hunter F.4s between April 1956 and 31 May 1957
• No. 80 Squadron RAF – operatingEnglish Electric Canberra PR.7 until 30 September 1969^[16]
• No. 87 Squadron RAF – operating:^[17]
  • Gloster Javelin FAW.1 between August 1957 and January 1961
  • Gloster Javelin FAW.5 between September 1958 and October 1960
  • Gloster Javelin FAW.4 between November 1959 and January 1961
• No. 112 Squadron RAF – operating:^[18]
  • de Havilland Vampire FB.5 between July 1953 and February 1954
  • Canadair Sabre F.4s between January 1954 and April 1956
  • Hawker Hunter F.4s between April 1956 and May 1957
• No. 130 Squadron RAF – operating:^[19]
  • Canadair Sabre F.4s between August 1953 and May 1956
  • Hawker Hunter F.4s between April 1956 and May 1957
• No. 213 Squadron RAF operating English Electric Canberra B(I).6 between 22 August 1957 and 31 December 1969^[20]
• No. 37 Squadron RAF Regiment – operatingBAC Rapier.^[2]
• No. 431 Maintenance Unit RAF.^[2]

With the Royal Air Force having no use for site of the former RAF Brüggen, the base was handed over to theBritish Army on 28 February 2002 to becomeElmpt Station, Javelin Barracks. The 18-hole RAF Brüggen Golf Club became West Rhine Golf Club.

Former units

• 7th Signal Regiment
• 16th Signal Regiment
  • Support Squadron
  • 207 Signal Squadron
  • 230 Signal Squadron
  • 255 Signal Squadron
• 628 Signal Troop
• 1st Military Intelligence Battalion
  • HQ Company
  • Operations Support Company
  • 15 Military Intelligence Company
  • 16 Military Intelligence Company

The barracks was closed in November 2015 and the site returned to German authorities. Since December 2015 the accommodation units have been used by theGerman government to houserefugees.^[21]

As of February 2026,^[update] the 882 hectares (2,180 acres) area is owned by the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben (BImA). In 2020 negotiations are under way to sell it to Entwicklungsgesellschaft "Energie- und Gewerbepark Elmpt" mbH (EGE), a company founded in 2016 with the objective of converting 150 hectares (370 acres) of the area into an energy and industry park.^[22]

• Advanced Landing Ground
• List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
• List of former Royal Air Force stations
• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Jackson, P. (1986).Britain's Armed Forces Today: 4 RAF Germany. Shepperton, UK: Ian Allan.ISBN 0-7110-1579-1.
• Jefford, C. G. (1988).RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912.Shrewsbury: Airlife.ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRAF Brüggen.

• BBC News – RAF ends 56 years in Germany
• Last days at Bruggen from AirSceneUK.org.uk
• RAF Brüggen at GlobalSecurity.org
• RAF Brüggen, British Army Of the Rhine – Locations
• 317 MT Sqn history

• Military airbases established in 1953
• Royal Air Force stations in Germany
• Military airbases closed in 2002
• Buildings and structures in Viersen (district)
• Defunct airports in Germany
• Airports in North Rhine-Westphalia

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• CS1 German-language sources (de)
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• Use dmy dates from November 2017
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• Coordinates on Wikidata
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• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2018
• Articles containing potentially dated statements from February 2026
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