Metz-Frescaty Air Base
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Metz-Frescaty Air Base (french: Base aérienne 128 Metz-Frescaty) was a front-line
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...
french: Armée de l'Air (ALA) base. The base is located approximately south-southwest of
Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...
(Département de la Moselle, Lorraine), about east of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. A military restructuring plan announced in July 2008 was to close BA 128 in 2011, and place it in reserve status (Base Interarmes).


Major units assigned

Metz-Frescaty was primarily a command and control base. * Staff of the Combat Air Force (FAC). * 54th Air Intelligence Wing. * Center for Mobile Detection and Control. * Telecommunications Group. * Combined Transport Squadron 1/40 "Moselle". (
Eurocopter AS355 Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence A ...
;
SOCATA TBM The SOCATA TBM (now Daher TBM) is a family of high-performance single-engine turboprop business and utility light aircraft manufactured by Daher. It was originally collaboratively developed between the American Mooney Airplane Company and F ...
) *
Escadron électronique aéroporté 1/54 Dunkerque Escadron électronique aéroporté 00.054 Dunkerque is an electronic warfare unit of the French Air and Space Force equipped with the Transall C-160G "Gabriel"s and Beechcraft King Air 350ER "Vader"s. It was stationed at Metz-Frescaty Air Base (BA ...
C-160 Transall The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and ...
"Gabriel" ELINT aircraft * Company regional infrastructure.


History


Origins

Following the defeat of France in the 1871 Franco-Prussian War, Metz and much of the Moselle were annexed by
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as part of the
Treaty of Frankfurt The Treaty of Frankfurt may refer to one of three treaties signed at Frankfurt, as follows: * Treaty of Frankfurt (1489) - Treaty between Maximilian of Austria and the envoys of King Charles VIII of France *Treaty of Frankfurt (1539) - Initiated ...
, and Metz became a "Garrison City" of the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
(Reichsheer). In the early 20th century, the German army began building a
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
field to the south-west of the city, at the present site of the airfield.History of Base Aérienne 128 Metz-Frescaty
(In French)


World War I

During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, in addition to the Zeppelins, the
Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...
(Imperial German Army Air Service) began stationing airplanes at the airfield, which were later used in combat over the Western Front during the war. It became the target of French and British aircraft later in the war, starting about 1915 with the development of bomber and fighter combat aircraft. It also was the target for long-range artillery attacks. Following the
armistice with Germany The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...
ending the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the French army entered Metz in November 1918, and the airfield came under the control of the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...
(Aéronautique Militaire).


Between the wars

In 1919, the first French Air Force units moved into Frescaty Air Base, when Bombardment Group No. 1 moved in from Landau in the Occupied
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. On 1 August 1920, the unit was redesignated as the 11th Aviation Bombardment Regiment (11th RAB). In 1927, the 3d Group of the 12th Aviation Regiment was also assigned, moving from
Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''. Geography Location T ...
, also in the Occupied
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
. On 31 May 1934, Frescaty Air Base received the designation of base aérienne 111 (BA 111). The 11th Wing Frescaty left in 1936 and settled in Toulouse. Two years later, the transition from GB I/38 and II/38 on Amiot 143, causes the change in mission of the 38th Wing, which became the 38th Bombardment Wing in March 1939. By the following June 38 EB is reassigned to
French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In ...
.


The Phony War and the Battle of France

At the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
on 3 September 1939, the CAG 506 and GR II/22 (flying Bloch MB.131 reconnaissance-bombers and
Potez 630 The Potez 630 and its derivatives were a family of twin-engined, multirole aircraft developed for the French Air Force in the late 1930s. The design was a contemporary of the British Bristol Blenheim (which was larger and designed purely as a ...
heavy twin-engined fighters) were present at Frescaty. Frescaty Air Base was bombed by the
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
on 10 May 1940 on the first day of the German attack in the West. After the Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940), GR II/22 was replaced by GR I/22. Frescaty Air Base was again attacked on 14 June, and was seized by the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
shortly afterward.


German control during World War II

Under Luftwaffe control, the airfield was initially used as a night interceptor fighter base, with Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4) flying
Messerschmitt Bf 110 The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engine (Des ...
s and later RADAR-equipped
Dornier Do 217 The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II as a more powerful development of the Dornier Do 17, known as the ''Fliegender Bleistift'' (German: "flying pencil"). Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber ...
s against the night attacks by the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
on German targets. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> In 1943, a dive bomber school, Schlachtgeschwader 103 (SG 103) was established at the base, training pilots with
Arado Ar 96 The Arado Ar 96 was a German single-engine, low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, produced by Arado Flugzeugwerke. It was the ''Luftwaffe''s standard advanced trainer during World War II. Design and development Designed by Walter Blum ...
advanced trainers;
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...
Fs, and
Junkers Ju 87 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...
s. The school closed in February 1944; the night fighters were reassigned in May. In June, day interceptor fighters of Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) moved in with
Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
Gs to attack American
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
heavy bombers. In July, Kampfgeschwader 101 (KG 101) arrived as part of the Mistel (German: Mistletoe), project, in which Junkers Ju 88A, bombers were controlled by a Messerschmitt Bf 109E, which was flown to the target by the fighter, then separated and guided, with a shaped 1,800 kg charge at the nose of the aircraft, and used as unmanned powered bomb. kg 101 flew several attacks against hardened Allied targets along the English channel coast. These activities led to Frescaty being attacked by USAAF
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...
medium bombers and
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
s mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
heavy bombers (
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
es,
Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
s) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the
North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...
fighter-escort groups of
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as 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.


American control

In November 1944, American Third Army forces moved into the Metz area and heavy fighting ensued between the Allies and the German forces. On 29 November the airfield was taken from German control. Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 830th Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 5 December. Due to the heavy fighting in the area and extensive damage from the Allied bombing attacks on the base, much restoration work was necessary. A new 5000'
Pierced Steel Planking Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the ...
metal runway was laid down aligned 02/20 for aircraft use, and after nearly a month the airfield was declared operationally ready on 25 December 1944 as
Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...
"Y-34 Metz". Under American control, Metz Air Base was turned over to the
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
, being used as a P-47 Thunderbolt combat fighter-bomber airfield for the rest of the war. Units which used the airfield were:Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . *
365th Fighter Group 365th may refer to: *365th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *365th Electronic Warfare Group previously 1st Search Attack Group, United States Army Air Forces unit that served during World War II. 365 EWG was a 'paper' des ...
, 27 December 1944 – 30 January 1945 *
368th Fighter Group 368th may refer to: *368th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *368th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group (368 EASOG) is a support unit of the United States Air Force *368th Fighter Group or 136th Airlift Wing, unit o ...
, 5 January-15 April 1945 *
406th Fighter Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
, 2–8 February 1945 * 371st Fighter Group, 15 February-7 April 1945 The Luftwaffe
Operation Bodenplatte Operation Bodenplatte (; "Baseplate"), launched on 1 January 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries during the Second World War. The goal of ''Bodenplatte'' was to gain air superiority during th ...
(Unternehmen Bodenplatte) attacks on Metz Airfield by
Jagdgeschwader 53 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean. ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" ''(Ace of Spades)'' Geschwader - was one of the ...
(JG 53) on 1 January 1945 from its base near Stuttgart (Echterdingen) with Bf 109Gs was part of the German last-ditch effort to achieve air superiority, even temporarily over the Western Front. JG 53 destroyed or damaged about 40 Thunderbolts of the 365th Fighter Group in the attack, but the damage to the airfield was quickly repaired, the destroyed aircraft moved off the ramp, and replacements arrived within a few days to continue the attack. JG 53 retreated into
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
and
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
before it was finally disbanded in April 1945. On 29 May 1945, control of Metz Airfield was returned to the French Air Force.


Postwar

Although under French Air Force Control, the airfield was badly damaged by the war. Reconstruction began in April 1946. In 1950, when as a result of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
threat of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, Metz-Frescaty was proposed by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
to become an interim
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
fighter base, until other airfields could be constructed. In the ongoing negotiations, the site was ultimately rejected, and reconstruction of the base continued for French Air Force requirements.McAuliffe, Jerome J: U.S. Air Force in France 1950-1967 (2005), Chapter 2, Base Selection and Movement to France, 1950-1954 The new paved jet runway was officially opened 20 July 1951, but the first French Air Force flying units were not assigned until April 1956 when 1/9 "Limousin" left BA 139 (Lahr, West Germany) and moved to Frescaty Air Base. Construction of the facility continued until 1956. The air base was designated base aérienne 128 (BA 128) during the summer of 1956. During the past 50 years, many units have been assigned to the base, flying a wide variety of aircraft. The last combat unit was reassigned on 31 August 2004. Until closure, Metz-Frescaty Air Base was a fully equipped front line French Air Force Base, primarily being used for command, control and training along with electronic warfare. The base closed on 31 August 2012. As at September 2019, the airfield runway is marked (with Xs) as not usable for landings.Google maps
accessed 2019-09-06


See also

*
Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...


References


External links

* {{authority control Metz-Frescaty World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1909 Military installations established in 1909 Military installations closed in 2012 Buildings and structures in Moselle (department)