Royal Air Force Ahlhorn or more simply RAF Ahlhorn, is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

located south east of the centre of Ahlhorn,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

and north of

Vechta Vechta (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Vechte'') is the capital and largest city of the Vechta (district), Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is home to the University of Vechta. It is known for the 'Stoppelmarkt' fair, which takes place every ...

, Lower Saxony,

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 ...

. Originally, it was a German airbase for

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor 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. 155� ...

s. The Royal Air Force (RAF) disestablished the station and it was closed down in the autumn of 1958 and was transferred to the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

. It was a private airport before being converted to a solar park in 2011.

History

First World War

Built during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in the summer of 1915 for Zeppelins four large hangars were built. In two pairs, the hangars measured in length, in width and in height. The hangars were named "Albrecht" and "Aladin" (northern pair), and "Alrun" and "Alix" (southern pair). On 5 January 1918 Ahlhorn hangars explosion that destroyed the ''LZ 87'' (L 47), ''LZ 94'' (L 46), ''LZ 97'' (L 51), ''LZ 105'' (L 58), and SL 20. Fifteen killed, 134 injured.

Ahlhorn Hangar explosion

Second World War and beyond

During the

Second World War 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 ...

the airfield was used as an Advanced Landing Ground before becoming a permanent RAF station. Units: * No. 418 Air Stores Park between 5 and 7 May 1945 * No. 8 Section of No. 422 Aviation Fuel and Ammunition Park from 29 June 1945 * No. 6014 Servicing Echelon between 26 September 1957 and 15 September 1958 supporting 14 Squadron * No. 6193 Servicing Echelon between 30 April and 8 June 1945 supporting 193 Squadron * No. 6197 Servicing Echelon between 5 May and 8 June 1945 supporting 197 Squadron * No. 6263 Servicing Echelon between 30 April and June 1945 supporting 263 Squadron * No. 6266 Servicing Echelon between 4 and 6 June 1945 supporting 266 Squadron * No. 6302 (Polish) Servicing Echelon between 16 September 1945 and 16 October 1946 supporting 302 Squadron * No. 6308 (Polish) Servicing Echelon between 16 September 1945 and 7 October 1946 supporting 308 Squadron * Ahlhorn Station Flight used Prentice T.1, Canberra T.4, Vampire T.11 & Chipmunk T.10 * 2nd Tactical Air Force Tactical Development Unit between 18 February and 19 October 1953 * No. 131 (Polish) (Fighter) Wing RAF between 12 September 1945 and 15 October 1946 * No. 146 Wing RAF between 30 April and 6 June 1945

Current use

Jagdgeschwader 73 was formed at Ahlhorn and Oldenburg on 1 April 1959. Jagdgeschwader 71 of the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

were to take residence from June 1959 with 50

Canadair Sabre The Canadair Sabre is a Jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft built by Canadair under licence from North American Aviation. A variant of the North American F-86 Sabre, it was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the Royal Canadian Air Force ...

s, Germany's first operational jet fighter unit. They remained at Ahlhorn until 1961.

Solarpark Ahlhorn

From 2005 the Aircraft Maintenance Service GmbH provided services on widebody aircraft but the company went bankrupt in 2009. A number of solar panels were installed on most of the airfield converting it into Solarpark Ahlhorn. Opening in 2011 the solar panels provide, 17.5 MW. There is only one airstrip in use.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * - Total pages: 48 *

External links

Ray Powells' memories of Ahlhorn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlhorn Royal Air Force stations in Germany Airports in Lower Saxony