Doncourt-lès-Conflans Airport is a regional airport in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, located south-southwest of

Homécourt Homécourt () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle departmen ...

(Departement de Meurthe-et-Moselle, Grand Est); east of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

It supports

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

with no commercial airline service scheduled.

History

Doncourt-lès-Conflans Airport's origins begin in September 1944 when the airfield was built by the

United States Army Air Forces 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 ...

IX Engineer Command 830th Engineering Aviation Regiment. Allied ground forces had moved through the area during the Northern France Campaign in early September, and on `9 September the combat engineers arrived to lay down a temporary airfield to support the ground forces in their advance against enemy forces. The 830th EAR laid down a 5000' grass runway aligned roughly east–west (08/26), along with a small support area. The airfield was declared operationally ready on 20 September and was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-94", or simply "Conflans Airfield". The airfield was initially used by various transport units for combat resupply of units and for casualty evacuation.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. In late October, the 830th Engineering Aviation Regiment returned to the airfield and improved the facility, laying down an all-weather

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 ...

(PSP) runway for

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 ...

combat fighter use along with upgrading the support site with tents for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting. With the upgraded facility, combat units arrived at Conflans. The first 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 based various photo-reconnaissance aircraft at the field from 20 November 1944 until March 1945. In mid-March, the 10th moved out and was replaced by the

367th Fighter Group 367th may refer to: * 367th Fighter Group, later the 133d Operations Group, the flying component of the Minnesota Air National Guard's 133d Airlift Wing * 367th Fighter Squadron Inactivated in 1945, then reactivated at Homestead Air Reserve Base ...

, which flew

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

s until 20 April 1945 (P-38).Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . By the end of April the airfield had become redundant combat needs and the facility was returned to being a S&E (Supply and Evacuation) airfield, and was used until being closed on 22 May 1945. The wartime airfield was then turned over to French authorities.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doncourt-Les-Conflans Airport Airports in Grand Est World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1944

History

See also

Current

References

External links