Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: Vliegkamp Valkenburg) is a former
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 ...
located just south of Valkenburg, which is part of
Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
and close to the city of
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
Lockheed P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.
History
Construction of the air base was commenced in 1939, but not completed before the start of the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
. Fights around the airfield during the Battle of the Netherlands resulted in significant losses on both sides. After
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 ...
occupied the Netherlands, the
German military
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
completed construction of the air base for their own use, naming it ''Fliegerhorst Katwijk''. It was used by 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-Fliegerabtei ...
until 1943, when it was converted into a decoy airfield.Abandoned, Forgotten & Little-Known Airfields in Europe (2012 Valkenburg article retrieved 22 March 2014.
On 25 October 1941, it was the airfield from which Franz Von Werra (famed as "the one who got away," the only captured Luftwaffe fighter pilot to escape from imprisonment in Canada and to return to flying with the Luftwaffe) departed on his last flight, from which he did not return.
After the war it briefly served as a home for the Royal Netherlands Air Force air transport wing, but in 1947 the Royal Netherlands Navy received control of the air base. After Ypenburg Airport was closed in 1992, many VIP flights for the government and the Royal Family moved to Valkenburg. The base closed in 2006 after the sale of the Navy's
Lockheed P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.Soldier of Orange
''Soldier of Orange'' ( nl, Soldaat van Oranje, ) is a 1977 Dutch romance-thriller film directed and co-written by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Rob Houwer, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film is set around the German occupation of ...
.
In March 2014 Valkenburg was used as the home base for both police and military helicopters providing security during the
2014 Nuclear Security Summit
The 2014 Nuclear Security Summit was a summit held in The Hague, the Netherlands, on March 24 and 25, 2014. It was the third edition of the conference, succeeding the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. The 2014 summit was attended by 58 world leaders ...
. The military stationed
Eurocopter Cougar
The Eurocopter AS532 Cougar (now Airbus Helicopters H215M) is a twin-engine, medium-weight, multipurpose helicopter developed by France. The AS532 is a development and upgrade of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma in its militarized form. Its civil ...
,
AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night v ...
and
CH-47 Chinook
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, C ...
helicopters at the former Naval Air Base for this purpose. For additional anti-aircraft protection, the
NASAMS
NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Ae ...
system was also deployed. To support the operation, temporary fuel and ammunition storage was created and a temporary air traffic control tower was established.
In January 2018 engineer Henk Hesselink announced that he plans to use the air base to launch drones using a circular runway.