Braunshardt Airfield is a former military airfield located in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
about 1 mile east-southeast of
Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival.
Geogra ...
(Hesse) into
Worfelden
Worfelden is a village in the municipality of Büttelborn, which is located in the triangle formed by the cities of Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt, within the Rhine-Main region.
Geography Location
The parish of Worfeld lies entirely within th ...
district; approximately 275 miles southwest of
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.
History
Braunshardt Airfield's origins begin as a 5500x150' concrete landing strip laid down 09/27 by the Luftwaffe, probably in late 1944 as an emergency landing airfield just to the south of
Worfelden
Worfelden is a village in the municipality of Büttelborn, which is located in the triangle formed by the cities of Frankfurt, Mainz and Darmstadt, within the Rhine-Main region.
Geography Location
The parish of Worfeld lies entirely within th ...
, in a series of wheat fields. There are no records of any use by the Luftwaffe of the airfield.
[ The Luftwaffe, 1933-45](_blank)
/ref> The IX Engineering Command 832d Engineering Aviation Brigade moved into the area on 27 March 1945 and enabled the strip to become a combat resupply and casualty evacuation field, designating it as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-72". The 850th EAB then expanded the facility, adding an extensive set of dispersal pads and taxiways using Pierced Steel Planking
Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the ...
and enabling it to be used as a combat airfield.
On 13 April the Twelfth Air Force
The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
The command is the air component to ...
86th Fighter Group
Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003.
When in Port Harcourt or Ahoa ...
moved into the facility from Tantonville Airfield
Tantonville Airfield is an abandoned World War II United States Army Air Forces military airfield in France, which was located in the Département de Meurthe-et-Moselle approximately north of Mirecourt and south-southeast of Neuves-Maisons.
His ...
in eastern France, with P-47 Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bom ...
s. The P-61 Black Widow
The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night figh ...
equipped 415th Night Fighter Squadron 415th may refer to:
*415th Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit
*415th Flight Test Flight (415 FLTF), squadron of the United States Air Force Reserves
*415th Tactical Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit
See ...
moved in on 17 April. Both of these units remained at the airfield until the end of the war, eventually moving out in September and October 1945 when many units were moved out of the Frankfurt area and into Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
.[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.]
The airfield was closed on 30 October, and was eventually dismantled. Today, little or no evidence of the airfield remains in the agricultural area.
See also
* Advanced Landing Ground
References
External links
{{coord, 49.91, 8.541667, type:airport_region:, display=title
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany
Airports established in 1944
Airports in Hesse