Châteaudun Air Base (french: Base aérienne 279 Châteaudun) was a

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

(french: Armée de l'Air base, between 1934 and 2014. The base was located approximately southeast of

Châteaudun Châteaudun () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It was the site of the Battle of Châteaudun during the Franco-Prussian War. Geography Châteaudun is located about 45& ...

and about southwest of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. It is currently an airfield attached to

Orléans – Bricy Air Base Orléans – Bricy Air Base (french: Base aérienne 123 « Commandant Charles Paoli ») is a French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) (ALAE) base. The base is located approximately north-northwesst of Ingré near the city of Or ...

. The base is primarily used for aircraft storage and ferrying them to other squadrons of the Air Force. Entrepot de l'Armee de l'Air 601 was assigned to perform this mission. Each French Air Force squadron stores some of its planes for a while thereby artificially prolong the life of the fleet and better material management. The EAA also has the task of storing new aircraft to be used in times of war. To fulfil its mission, the EAA has the Group Maintenance, repair and storage of aircraft (GERS). A SAN Jodel D.140 Mousquetaire training aircraft is assigned to the base for courier duties.

History

The facility was a

base built in 1934. It was used by the air force for the storage of aircraft as well as a supply and maintenance depot. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the base had 643 aircraft, which gave it great importance. It became a priority target for the

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

during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

who bombed it heavily on 12 and May 19, 1940. On June 14, against the German advance, the airfield was abandoned.,History of Châteaudun Air Base
(in French) after the heroic sacrifice of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Marcel Beau.

German use during World War II

Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the

, Châteaudun was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Under occupation, the German army, owner, undertook infrastructure projects including the construction of dispersal areas called "daisies" and the track. Chateaudun also served as a starting point for air raids on England. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV): The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> * Jagdgeschwader 21 (JG 21) 19–22 June 1940

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

E *

Jagdgeschwader 54 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 54 (JG 54) was a Luftwaffe fighter wing during the Second World War. JG 54 flew most of its missions on the Eastern Front where it claimed more than 9,600 aircraft shot down. It was the second-highest scoring wing in the Luftw ...

(JG 54) 19–20 June 1940

E *

Lehrgeschwader 1 ''Lehrgeschwader'' 1 (LG 1) (Training Wing 1) formerly ''Lehrgeschwader Greifswald'' was a Luftwaffe multi-purpose unit during World War II, operating fighter, bomber and dive-bomber ''Gruppen''. The unit was formed in July 1936 and operated t ...

(LG 1) 25 June 1940 – 10 January 1941

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II ''Luftwaffe'' twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") that would be too fast ...

A ( ''Geschwaderkennung'' prefix: L1+) *

Kampfgeschwader 76 ''Kampfgeschwader 76'' (KG 76) (Battle Wing) was a Luftwaffe bomber Group during World War II. It was one of the few bomber groups that operated throughout the war. In 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. To meet the ex ...

(KG 76) 6 February–April 1941

A (''Geschwaderkennung'' prefix: F1+) *

Kampfgeschwader 40 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 40 (KG 40) was a Luftwaffe medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II, and the primary maritime patrol unit of any size within the World War II Luftwaffe. It is best remembered as the unit operating a majority of the four-eng ...

(KG 40) 19 December 1943-January 1944

Heinkel He 177 The Heinkel He 177 ''Greif'' (Griffin) was a long-range heavy bomber flown by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. The introduction of the He 177 to combat operations was significantly delayed, by both problems with the development of its ...

A-3 & A-5 (''Geschwaderkennung'' prefix: F8+) *

Kampfgeschwader 100 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 100 (KG 100) was a ''Luftwaffe'' medium and heavy bomber wing of World War II and the first military aviation unit to use a precision-guided munition (the Fritz X anti-ship glide bomb) in combat to sink a warship (the Itali ...

(KG 100) 21 January-1 May 1944

A-3 & A-5 (''Geschwaderkennung'' prefix: 6N+) *

Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 ''Nachtjagdgeschwader'' 2 (NJG 2) was a German Luftwaffe night fighter and night intruder wing during World War II. Background Night fighter operations did form part of Wehrmacht war games during 1935 and 1936. Luftwaffe Service Regulation No. 1 ...

(NJG 2) 2 July-9 August 1944

C/G (''Geschwaderkennung'' prefix: 4R+) *

Kampfgeschwader 51 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 51 "Edelweiss" (KG 51) (Battle Wing 51) was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II. The unit began forming in May 1939 and completed forming in December 1939, and took no part in the invasion of Poland which start ...

(KG 51) 20 July-12 August 1944

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed ''Schwalbe'' (German: "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ''Sturmvogel'' (German: "Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the Germa ...

A-2a JG 21 and JG 54 fought in the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

as fighter escort units; LG 1 was a training unit; KG 76 engaged in night bombardment operations over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, along with KG 40 and KG 100 to a limited extent due to fuel shortages; NJG2 was a night interceptor unit against RAF Bombers; KG 51 flew the jet Me 262A2a on day jet interceptor missions against American heavy bomber attacks. Largely due to the presence of the Me 262, Châteaudun became a major target of USAAF

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 De ...

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

medium bombers and

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-bombe ...

s mostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps to attack the German jets on the ground. It was known that the Me 262 was relatively short-legged, with a relatively short flying radius, so the attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible on the jets to keep the jet interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

fighter-escort groups of

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.

American use

Châteaudun was heavily attacked on several missions by

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

bombers in 1943 and 1944. It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 20 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the USAAF IX Engineering Command 832d and 833d Engineer Aviation Battalions began clearing the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft, and repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. Subsequently, Châteaudun became a USAAF

combat airfield, designated as "A-39" about 26 August, only a week after its capture from German forces. Under American control, Châteaudun initially became the home of numerous combat groups. Initially, the

422d Night Fighter Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

moved in and provided an air defense with

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 fight ...

s from 28 August to 16 September 1944. The Black Widows were replaced by the

s of the 387th Bombardment Group on 18 September, remaining until 30 October 1944. The last American combat unit to use the airfield was the

10th Reconnaissance Group 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

, which flew a variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft from the field during November 1944. With the combat units moving east with the front lines, Châteaudun became a transport airfield, with the 439th Troop Carrier Group flying

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

s from the field from 4 November 1944 until 7 September 1945.

Return to French Air Force

The Americans returned control of the field to the French Air Force in September 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield. In 1967, during the period of tension précéding the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

, fifty

Dassault Mirage 5 The Dassault Mirage 5 is a French supersonic attack aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation during the 1960s and manufactured in France and a number of other countries. It was derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned sever ...

jets ordered by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

were stored on the base of Chateaudun. The settlement of this dispute took place in 1971, with the aircraft being bought by the ''Armée de l'Air''. On 13 June 1990, the base was named Lieutenant-Beau, remembering

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Marcel Beau, a pilot at Air Base 134 Versailles in 1935. Today, the remains of World War II bomb craters are very evident in the grass areas of the airfield, as well as the abandoned 05/23 secondary runway in which the wartime patching with asphalt is still visible. On 2 July 2014, the installation was closed as an Air Force Base. In 2014, the base was linked to Air Force base Orléans-Bricy. Element Air Reattache 279 (EAR 279) retained the mission of aircraft storage, as well as aerial activity (the field being open two days a week). The unit also operates an aircraft deconstruction center. On 26 January 2015, the

2015 Los Llanos Air Base crash On 26 January 2015, an F-16D Fighting Falcon jet fighter of the Hellenic Air Force crashed into the flight line at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people: the two crew members and nine on the ground. Twenty-one others, all on ...

occurred. One of the nine French victims came from EAR 279..

References

French Senate Document, LIST AIR BASES, AND THEIR MAIN ACTIVITIES

External links

Association Mémoire et Histoire : Military History of Châteaudun, 1870-71, 1939-1945, Airfield A-39

Châteaudun Air Base Website
(In French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Chateaudun Air Base French Air and Space Force bases Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1934 Military installations closed in 2014 Buildings and structures in Eure-et-Loir 1934 establishments in France

History

German use during World War II

American use

Return to French Air Force

See also

References

External links

External links