Braunshardt Airfield is a former military airfield in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, about 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometers) east-southeast of the center of

Groß-Gerau Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival. Geo ...

(Hesse) into

Worfelden Worfelden is a village in the municipality of Büttelborn, which is located in the triangle formed by the cities of Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt, within the Rhine-Main region. Geography Location The parish of Worfeld lies entirely within t ...

district, and approximately 275 miles (440 kilometers) southwest of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

History

Braunshardt Airfield's origins begin as a 5500x150' concrete landing strip laid down 09/27 by the Luftwaffe, probably in late 1944 as an emergency landing airfield just to the south of

, in a series of wheat fields. There are no records of any use by the Luftwaffe of the airfield. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> The IX Engineering Command 832d Engineering Aviation Brigade moved into the area on 27 March 1945 and enabled the strip to become a combat resupply and casualty evacuation field, designating it as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-72". The 850th EAB then expanded the facility, adding an extensive set of dispersal pads and taxiways using

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 r ...

and enabling it to be used as a combat airfield. On 13 April the

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

86th Fighter Group moved into the facility from Tantonville Airfield in eastern France, with

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. The

P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed specifically as a night fighter. Named for the North American spider ''Latrodect ...

equipped 415th Night Fighter Squadron moved in on 17 April. Both of these units remained at the airfield until the end of the war, eventually moving out in September and October 1945 when many units were moved out of the Frankfurt area and into

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

.Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. The airfield was closed on 30 October, and was eventually dismantled. Today, little or no evidence of the airfield remains in the agricultural area. BraunshardtAirfieldAerialPhoto

References

External links

{{coord, 49.91, 8.541667, type:airport_region:, display=title Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany Airports established in 1944 Airports in Hesse

History

See also

References

External links