Leighton Barracks is a former military garrison, located on top of a hill in the Hubland area east of the City of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

, Germany. It was active as a military base between 1936 and 2008, from 2012-onwards part of the barracks has converted to new role as additional academic buildings and student accommodation for the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

History

The garrison's origins begin in 1936 when Fliegerhorst Würzburg was established for the Luftwaffe as an operational base. It had an all-way grass landing/takeoff area where aircraft simply were directed into the wind for takeoffs and landings. The long-range reconnaissance group 123 (Staff and 1st - 3rd Squadron (F)/123) was set up in Würzburg on 1 Nov. 1938. It left its peacetime base in Würzburg (Galgenberg/Mönchberg) shortly before the outbreak of war at the end of August 1939 for operational bases on the border with Poland (3rd Squadron) and close to the French border. Coming from Elbing and Heiligenbeil in East Prussia, the Staff and III Group of Kampfgeschwader 3 (3rd Bomber Wing) were stationed in Würzburg (Galgenberg) with Dornier Do 17Z medium bombers from Oct. 1939 to June 1940, while the II Group/KG 3 was accommodated at Schweinfurt airfield at the same time. In June 1944 some aircraft of Transportfliegerstaffel 4 (4th Transport Aircraft Squadron) with Italian three-engine FIAT G.12 transport and liaison aircraft taken over from the Luftwaffe had been temporarily flown over to Würzburg in preparation for their stationing at Dornberg airfield (Hardheim municipality, Baden-Wuerttemberg), 44.3 km west-southwest of Würzburg (Galgenberg). Würzburg and its airfield was captured by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in April 1945 as part of the

Western Allied invasion of Germany The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...

. The airfield was repaired by IX Engineering Command,

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 D ...

into an Army Air Forces advanced Landing Ground, designated R-24. IX Air Force Service Command units used the airfield as a casualty evacuation and combat resupply airfield. ''Fliegerhorst Würzburg'' was renamed Leighton Barracks on 17 June 1947, in honor of Captain John A. Leighton (HQ,

EUCOM The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, the ...

General Order #62, 17 June 1947). Leighton, commander of Company C, 10th Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division, was killed in action near Raids, France, on 19 July 1944. The former Luftwaffe/AAF airfield was reduced to a helipad, known as Leighton Army Airfield (Heliport). The garrison was closed in 2008 and returned to German control.

References

* 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. {{authority control World War II airfields in Germany Airports established in 1936 Airports in Bavaria Würzburg in World War II Former military installations of the United States Buildings and structures in Würzburg

History

See also

References