367th Fighter Group 392d FS P-38 Lightning

Carentan Airfield is an abandoned

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

military airfield, which is located near the commune of

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was m ...

in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Located just outside Carentan, the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

established a temporary airfield 15 June 1944, nine days after the first Allied landings in France on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

and only three days after the capture of Carentan. The airfield was one of the first established in the liberated area of Normandy, being constructed by the IX Engineering Command, 826th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

History

Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-10", the airfield consisted of a single 5000' (1500m) Prefabricated Hessian Surfacing runway aligned 08/26. In addition, tents were erected for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump was created for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water; and a minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting was installed. The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of Normandy, patrolling roads in front of the beachhead; strafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops when spotted. After the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies, the airfield was left un-garrisoned and used for resupply and casualty evacuation. It was closed on 4 November 1944.

Major units assigned

50th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

20 June - 23 August 1944 : 10th (TS), 81st (2N), 313th (W3) Fighter Squadrons (P-47) *

392d Fighter Squadron 39 may refer to: * 39 (number) * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * '39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album ''Almost Heathen'' ...

(H5) 25 June - 16 August 1944 (P-38)Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .

Current use

After its closure by the Americans, the airfield was returned to farmland. Today, the Normandy Victory Museum utilizes part of the original site of the old A10 Airfield of Carentan, first aerodrome re-opened since 1944. It presents the Battle of Normandy known as "the hedgerow hell" and received a P47 2N-U replica. There is a monument to the A-10 Airfield at the junction of D 974, ex N13 toward Carentan, with D 89, turn left towards Saint Pellerin. The monument is 400 meters left, rue de Banville.Carentan Airfield monument
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References

External links

Normandy Tank Museum

A-10 Memorial

A-10 Carentan
(In French) {{authority control World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1944

History

Major units assigned

Current use

See also

References

External links