Ursel Air Base is a joint public/military airport located 10.2 km southwest of

Eeklo Eeklo () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the city of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the cont ...

near Ursel,

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

History

The airfield was established in the summer 1939 for the Belgian Air Force. The 14th Company Aviation-Auxiliary laid down a grass landing strip long. On 11 May 1940, the Belgian Air Force moved Fairey Foxes and Renard R16s for attacking the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invaders here. Five days later the airfield was bombed for the first time by the Germans, that occupied the badly damaged base on the 27th of May. After the

Battle of Belgium The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (; ), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an Military offensive, offensive campaign by Nazi Germany, Germany during ...

was over, it was taken over by the

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 used as an airfield during the German occupation period. In July 1940, the runway was re-laid in concrete and hangars and operational buildings restored. In autumn 1940, the Germans assigned the airfield to the

Corpo Aereo Italiano The ''Corpo Aereo Italiano'' (literally, "Italian Air Corps"), or CAI, was an Expeditionary warfare, expeditionary force from the Italian ''Regia Aeronautica'' (Italian Royal Air Force) that participated in the Battle of Britain and the Blitz in ...

, the air corps sent by

Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') (RAI) was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Regio Esercito, Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was ...

for operations against Britain. Ursel was the base of 18° ''Gruppo'', equipped with 50 Fiat CR.42 fighters, that arrived on the 19th of October.Haining 2005, p. 55. Italian occupation created a diplomatic break between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the

Belgian government in exile The Belgian Government in London (; ), also known as the Pierlot IV Government, was the government in exile of Belgium between October 1940 and September 1944 during World War II. The government was wikt:tripartite, tripartite, involving minis ...

which led to a Belgian offensive against

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa (, A.O.I.) was a short-lived colonial possession of Fascist Italy from 1936 to 1941 in the Horn of Africa. It was established following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which led to the military occupation of the Ethiopian ...

. The area was liberated by

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

forces in September 1944, and the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

converted the airfield to

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 ...

(RAF) use, designating the field as Advanced Landing Ground B-67. Four squadrons of

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor aircraft, interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems we ...

fighter-bombers operated from the field, their mission being to break the resistance of German troops at the Dutch island of

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

, which controlled the entrance to the harbours of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. Once the entrance to Antwerp was cleared, the RAF moved out and the airfield was abandoned. Ursel was used during

Exercise Reforger Exercise Campaign Reforger ("return of forces to Germany") was an annual military exercise and campaign conducted by NATO during the Cold War. The exercise was intended to ensure that NATO had the ability to quickly deploy forces to West German ...

76 in August/September of that year for the re-assembly of United States-based

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...

helicopters arriving by ship into

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

for onward deployment to

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

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 ...

. Ursel remains a reserve base for the Belgian Air Component. It is available for civilian recreational use during weekends, and hosts two aeroclubs.

Bibliography

* Haining, Peter ''The Chianti Raiders The Extraordinary Story of the Italian Air Force in the Battle of Britain'' London Robson 2005

References

Ursel - ALG B.67
* 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.

External links

Ursel Flying Club

Airport record for Ursel Air Base
at Landings.com {{authority control Belgian airbases Airports in East Flanders World War II airfields in Belgium Airports established in 1935

History

Bibliography

See also

References

External links