RCAF Station Grostenquin, also known as 2 (Fighter) Wing or 2 Wing, was a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) station located five km north of the town of Grostenquin in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

department,

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, northeastern

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 ...

. It was one of four RCAF

wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

, consisting of three fighter squadrons each, established in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in the early 1950s at the beginning of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. The other three wings were located at

RCAF Station Marville RCAF Station Marville (also known as 1(F) Wing or 1 Wing) was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station located near Marville in the Meuse department, Lorraine, northeastern France. It was one of four RCAF wings consisting of three fighter squadr ...

(1 Wing) in France, and

RCAF Station Zweibrücken The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

(3 Wing) and

RCAF Station Baden-Soellingen The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

(4 Wing) in the former

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. These wings were components of the RCAF's No. 1 Air Division, part of the

Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF) was a NATO military formation under Allied Air Forces Central Europe tasked with providing air support to NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG) in the southern portion of West Germany. 4 ATAF commanded al ...

(4 ATAF). They functioned as Canada's western European air defence commitment to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO).

History

1952–1964

No. 2 Wing's three squadrons flew from Canada between September 28 and October 11, 1952 during ''Operation Leapfrog II''. They were the first of the Canadian Air Division squadrons to arrive in

mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by so ...

, and the first RCAF squadrons to be based on the European mainland since March 1946. RCAFskylancers

All twelve Air Division squadrons flew the

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 ...

day fighter. The squadrons originally based at Grostenquin were

416 __NOTOC__ Year 416 ( CDXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Palladius (or, less frequently, year 1169 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

421 __NOTOC__ Year 421 ( CDXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Eustathius (or, less frequently, year 1174 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

and

430 __NOTOC__ Year 430 ( CDXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (or, less frequently, year 1183 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...

. Beginning in 1956 four all-weather

CF-100 The Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck (affectionately known as the "Clunk") is a Canadian twinjet interceptor/ fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Avro Canada. It has the distinction of being the only Canadian-designed fighter to ent ...

squadrons entered service with Air Division. One squadron in each wing was replaced by a CF-100 squadron. No. 416 Squadron was replaced by 423 Squadron at 2 Wing. In 1959 Canada adopted a controversial nuclear strike role in accordance with NATO's doctrine of "limited nuclear warfare" and began re-equipping with the new

CF-104 Starfighter The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (CF-111, CL-90) is a modified version of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic fighter aircraft built in Canada by Canadair under licence. It was primarily used as a ground attack aircraft, despite being des ...

that could deliver

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s. This aircraft also had a

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

role. In the fall of 1962 the Sabre squadrons of the Air Division, including 421 and 430 Squadrons at 2 Wing, were re-equipped with the Starfighter. Concurrently, CF-100s ceased operation in the Air Division and 423 Squadron was disbanded. 421sabres

Pilots from all three Sabre squadrons at 2 Wing flew with 2 Wing's aerobatic team, the ''Sky Lancers''. The team was formed in March 1955 and performed throughout Europe until October 1955. The following year the team was based at 4 Wing.

Other units located at Grostenquin include 601 Telecommunications Squadron and 109 Communications Flight.Abandoned Forgotten & Little Known Airfields In Europe - Grostenquin
Retrieved 2019-02-05 Logistics support for 2 Wing, as well as the other three wings, was provided by No. 30 Air Materiel Base (AMB) in

Langar Langar may refer to: Community eating *Langar (Sikhism) *Langar (Sufism) Places Afghanistan *Langar, Badakhshan, Afghanistan *Langar, Bamyan, Afghanistan *Langar, Faryab, Afghanistan *Langar, Herat, Afghanistan *Langar, Wardak, Afghanistan ...

, U.K.

Families of service personnel were mainly accommodated in married quarters or PMQs consisting of 443 apartments at nearby Saint Avold. Other families were accommodated in private homes in local villages or in trailers on the base. Some personnel resided in single quarters on the station. Schools were located at Saint Avold and on the station. Recreational facilities on the base included an arena and pool. A grocery and general store, as well as a hospital were also located on the station. NATO bases in France, including Grostenquin, were short-lived. In 1963 the

Government of France The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

announced that all nuclear weapons in France were to be placed under French control. This was unacceptable to the Canadian Government (and to other NATO governments with forces stationed in France), so the two nuclear strike squadrons of 2 Wing (421 and 430 Squadrons) were hastily relocated; 430 Squadron moved to 3 Wing Zweibrücken and 421 Squadron moved to 4 Wing Baden-Soellingen. RCAF Station Grostenquin closed in 1964.Milberry 1984, p.354.

Post-RCAF

After 1964 the airfield was transferred to the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' milita ...

, but abandoned until 1979 when it was re-used as an electronic warfare training range ( Polygone) by the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

, the ''Aviation légère de l’armée de Terre'' ( French Army Aviation),

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Other than the hangars most of the RCAF logistics facilities are gone. The runway, taxiways and tarmac remain visible from aerial photos (as late as 2010) but markings have changed since the RCAF left in 1964.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Greenhous, Brereton and Halliday, Hugh A. ''Canada's Air Forces, 1914–1999''. Montreal: Editions Art Global and the Department of National Defence, 1999. . * Milberry, Larry, ed. ''Sixty Years—The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924–1984''. Toronto: Canav Books, 1984. . * Roberts, Leslie. ''There Shall Be Wings''. Toronto: Clark, Irwin and Co. Ltd., 1959. No ISBN. * Dempsey, Daniel V. ''A Tradition of Excellence: Canada's Airshow Team Heritage''. Victoria, BC: High Flight Enterprises, 2002. . * Loubette, Fabrice. ''Les forces aériennes de l'OTAN en Lorraine, 1952-1967'' (Part II, Chapter 3, Grostenquin RCAF 2 Wing), Metz (France) : Serpenoise, 2008. .

External links

RCAF Station Grostenquin home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grostenquin, Royal Canadian Air Force Station Royal Canadian Air Force stations Canada–France relations 1952 establishments in France 1964 disestablishments in France Military installations established in 1952 Military installations closed in 1964 Buildings and structures in Moselle (department) French Air and Space Force bases Military history of Moselle (department) Cold War military history of Canada Cold War military history of France Cold War sites in France History of the French Air and Space Force

History

1952–1964

Post-RCAF

See also

References

External links