Aalborg Air Base ( da, Flyvestation Aalborg) also Air Transport Wing Aalborg is a

military air base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

for the

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...

. It is located at Vadum, near

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's List of cities in Denmark by population, fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban population of 143,598 (1 July ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. Aalborg Air Base shares its runway system as well as some services (Air Traffic Control etc.) with Aalborg Lufthavn. Residing Royal Danish Air Force units are: * 721 Squadron which is an air transport squadron equipped with four Lockheed C-130J-30 Hercules and three CL-604 Challenger aircraft It is also the base for Denmark's elite ''

Jægerkorpset The Jaeger Corps also known as the Huntsmen Corps ( da, Jægerkorpset) is an elite special operations force of the Danish Defence part of Special Operations Command, formerly of the Royal Danish Army, based at Aalborg Air Base. History The Ja ...

'' special forces unit. Until their decommissioning on 10 January 2006, Aalborg Air Base was also home to: * 723 Squadron * 726 Squadron These two squadrons were reconnaissance and fighter squadrons equipped with Lockheed F-16MLU Fighting Falcon aircraft. The aircraft from these squadrons were transferred to

Skrydstrup Air Base Vojens Airport, also known as Skrydstrup Airport is an airport in Vojens, Denmark. It shares runways with Fighter Wing Skrydstrup Fighter Wing Skrydstrup is an air base of the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) situated in southern Jutland. It is ...

instead.

History

Aalborg Air Base was established along with Aalborg Airport in 1938, serving the first Danish domestic flight between Aalborg and Copenhagen. The air base was established following pressure from the

Aalborg Portland Aalborg Portland is a cement-producing company in Denmark. It was established in Aalborg in the 19th century. Portland cement was patented in 1824 by the Englishman Joseph Aspdin. Six decades later the Aalborg businessman Hans Holm and the engineer ...

cement factory as local authorities were hesitant to invest in air traffic infrastructure. When

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 betwee ...

invaded Denmark on 9 April 1940, the German

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-Fliegerabt ...

(Air Force) launched one of the first airborne operations in history, in which

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

s captured the airport. Aalborg Lufthavn was considered a crucial element in the ferrying of troops and equipment from Germany to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

as it acted as a refuelling base for Luftwaffe transport planes, especially

Junkers Ju 52/3m Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

, during the

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

. A well known air battle took place over the airport on 13 August 1940, when a squadron of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

bombers attacked the German aircraft based there. All eleven attacking aircraft were shot down by either German anti-aircraft fire or

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 ...

fighter aircraft. The Luftwaffe greatly expanded the airport - which they called ''Fliegerhorst Aalborg West'' - from 140 to 2750 hectares of land. On June 16, 1944, RAF

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

es attacked the airfield. One of the RAF pilots, New Zealand

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

Michael Herrick Michael James Herrick, (5 May 1921 – 16 June 1944) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He is credited with having shot down at least six enemy aircraft. Born in Hastings, Herrick joined t ...

, was killed leading aircraft of

No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron "Ziemia Wielkopolska" ("Land of Greater Poland") ( pl, 305 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Wielkopolskiej im. Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego") was a Polish World War II bomber unit. It fought alongside the Royal Air Forc ...

. His earlier service had included flying night fighters 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 ...

and two operational tours flying Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks in the Pacific before returning to Britain to fly Mosquitoes against the Luftwaffe. After the war, an internment camp for Baltic German refugees was set up at the location. When the

arrived at the airport in 1945 most military and airport equipment had been destroyed. At this time the airport is by far the largest in Denmark. When the

was created in 1950, it took over the Fliegerhorst.

References

Airports in Denmark Royal Danish Air Force History of Aalborg Transport in Aalborg Buildings and structures in Aalborg Military installations of Denmark {{europe-airport-stub

History

See also

References