Limburg Airfield is an abandoned

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 opposing ...

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 ...

approximately 2 miles north-northwest of

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

(Hessen); 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 ...

. The airfield was built by 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 ...

in 1944 to protect the Limburg railroad marshalling yards from aerial attack by Eighth Air Force heavy bombers. It was captured in late March 1945 by American forces, one of the first airfields to be taken by the Americans east of the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. It was also the location of the first American wartime radio broadcast east of the Rhine. Once operational, Limburg was used as a reconnaissance airfield by

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 ...

and later as a combat resupply and casualty evacuation airfield until the end of the war.

History

The airfield was laid out by the Luftwaffe in the summer of 1944 as a grass airfield, midway between Limburg and Dehrn, just to the east of the Rhine River in an agricultural area. Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) moved in about 1 September with Messerschmitt Bf 109G day interceptors to halt in the defense of the Limburg railroad yards, a critical transportation point in Western Germany. Several Luftwaffe FlaK units were stationed in the area as well as the airfield. Besides the interceptors, Fliegerhorst Limburg was used by Aufklärungsgruppe 12 (AG 12); a

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 ...

day reconnaissance unit and Nahaufklärungsgruppe 1 (NG 1), a night Ju 88 reconnaissance unit. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> 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 ...

Eighth Air Force attacked the marshalling yards on 25 March and 31 March 1945, heavily damaging the facility. The railroad yards were also attacked by

B-26 Marauder medium bombers several times during March. In June 2019, an explosion created a crater wide and deep in a cornfield near the village of Ahlbach. Bomb disposal experts believe it was caused by a detonator decomposing on an unexploded AN-M64 General-Purpose Bomb that was mostly likely dropped in the area during the Allied bombing raids in March 1945. United States Army units began moving into the Limburg area in late March 1945, and ground forces captured Limburg Airfield and its facilities about 26 March. IX Engineering Command 816th Engineer Aviation Battalion moved in to de-mine the facility and clear out wrecked German aircraft. On 30 March the airfield was declared operationally ready for aircraft and designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-83 Limburg". On 2 April the National Broadcasting Company's commentator Lowell Thomas was flown to the airfield, making a news report from the captured airfield, one of the first operational USAAF airfields East of the Rhine. Quickly, the Ninth Air Force

67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group 67 may refer to: * 67 (number) * one of the years 67 BC, AD 67, 1967, 2067 * ''67'', a 1992 song by Love Battery from the album '' Between the Eyes'' * 67 (rap group), a drill music group from London See also * 67th Regiment (disambiguation) * ...

arrived at Limburg with a variety of reconnaissance aircraft, remaining for about a week until moving east into Central Germany. C-47 Skytrain transports then used the airfield until the end of the war on Combat resupply and casualty evacuation (S&E) flights. until the end of the war in May.Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . Limburg Airfield was closed and dismantled in June 1945. Since then, the airfield has been turned back into agricultural fields, and little remains of its existence.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.

References

External links

{{USAAF 9th Air Force UK Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Germany Airports established in 1944 Airports in Hesse