Nancy-Ochey Air Base () is a front-line

French Air and Space Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the French Air F ...

(Armée de l'air et de l'espace) base located approximately 11 km west-southwest of

Neuves-Maisons Neuves-Maisons (, literally ''New Houses'') is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in North-Eastern France, on the banks of the Moselle. The city had a great steel industry during the 19th and 20th century. Neuves-Maisons erected a ...

in the Département de

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

World War I, Interwar period and French Use in World War II

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

airfield was of particular importance to air operations during the latter stages of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. From at least March 1917 onwards it was used by No. 3 Wing

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

(later No. 207 Squadron RAF), flying

Handley Page O/100 The Handley Page Type O was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was one of the largest aircraft in the world. There were two main variants, the Handley Page O/100 (H.P.11) and the Handley Page O/4 ...

bombers. From October 1917 four HP O/100s of 'A' Squadron RNAS were joined with Nos. 55 Squadron (

Airco DH4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the World War I, First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It ...

s) and 100 Squadron ( FE2bs), to form No. 41 Wing of the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

. Commanded by Lt.-Col. Cyril L Newall (later Marshal of the RAF Lord Newall, KCB, OM, CMG, CBE, AM), the wing flew a considerable number of sorties against strategic targets in Southwest Germany. Nancy Air Base is a pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

airfield. In May 1940, it served as headquarter for the

Zone D'Opérations Aériennes Est Zone, Zones or The Zone may refer to: Places Military zones * Zone, any of the divisions of France during the World War II German occupation * Zone, any of the divisions of Germany during the post-World War II Allied occupation * Korean Demilit ...

(ZOAE). This translates as Area of Air Operations - East. Aircraft assigned were: * 1 Curtiss H-75 Hawk Single-engine Fighter * 10 Potez 63.11 Twin-engined heavy fighters

German use during World War II

The base was seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. The

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

, however did not station any flying units at the airfield until April 1943, when a glider unit, Luftlandegeschwader 2 (LLG 2), equipped with

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

s medium bombers being used to tow

Gotha Go 242 The Gotha Go 242 was a transport glider used by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. It was an upgrade over the DFS 230 in both cargo/troop capacity and flight characteristics. It saw limited combat action. There were multiple glider variant ...

transport gliders. LLG 2 moved out in June, being replaced by Luftlandegeschwader 1 (LLG 1) in September 1943, equipped with

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Large numbers were operated by the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the Second World War. The Do 17 was designed during ...

DFS 230 The DFS 230 was a German transport glider operated by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was developed in 1933 by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") with Hans Jacobs as the he ...

gliders. The glider units remained until August 1944. The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
/ref> In the spring of 1944, as a result of the Luftwaffe going on a defensive footing as part of the "

Defense of the Reich The Defence of the Reich () is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany over German-occupied Europe and Germany during World War II against the Allied strategic bombing campaign. Its aim ...

" campaign,

Jagdgeschwader 26 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 26 (JG 26) ''Schlageter'' was a German fighter-wing of World War II. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a World War I veteran, Freikorps member, and posthumous Nazi martyr, arrested and executed by the French fo ...

(JG 26) moved to Nancy, equipped with

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

G day interceptor fighters to attack the American

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 Forces S ...

heavy bomber fleets attacking targets in Occupied Europe and Germany. The interceptors remained until June 1944, when they were moved out and replaced by

Kampfgeschwader 53 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 53 "Legion Condor" (KG 53; English: ''Condor Legion'') was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II. Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in May 1945. At all times it ...

(KG 53), a bomber unit which was moved in from the Eastern Front, flying

s, the unit used the bombers to air launch the

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

. The Heinkels would carry the V-1 airborne and launch it, negating the need for a long launch ramp for the weapon. KG 53 remained at Nancy until September when the Luftwaffe was removed from the base by the advancing

United States Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army that saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

moving east towards the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

Allied use

Nancy Air Base was liberated by Allied ground forces about 20 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the

USAAF 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 Engineering Command 826th Engineer Aviation Battalions began clearing the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft, and repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. Subsequently, it became a 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 D ...

combat airfield, designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-96" Toul/Ochey Airfield about 29 August. Under American control, Toul/Ochey was turned over to the

, and the

50th Fighter Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

moved into the repaired airfield on 3 November with three squadrons of

Republic 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, flying combat missions from the field until moving east into Germany in April 1945.Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . Also, during March and April 1945, the

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

27th Fighter Group operated P-47s from the airfield. Another Twelfth Air Force unit, the

415th Night Fighter Squadron 415th may refer to: * 415th Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 415th Flight Test Flight (415 FLTF), squadron of the United States Air Force Reserves * 415th Tactical Fighter Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit S ...

operated

Bristol Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufor ...

s from the airfield between November 1944 and March 1945, flying night interceptor missions against

aircraft. With the end of the war in Europe in May, 1945 the airfield became a central collection point for captured German aircraft as part of Operation Lusty. Various Luftwaffe aircraft, both piston and jet propelled were flown to Ochey for storage prior to being flown to airfields near

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

where they were loaded on ships and sent to the United States. After Lusty began to phase down in the fall of 1945, the Americans began to withdraw their aircraft and personnel. Control of the airfield was turned over to French authorities on 5 November.

Cold War

During the early years of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the French Government allocated Ochey airfield to the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

as an emergency NATO Dispersed Operating Base for its fighter aircraft stationed in France in the 1950s and 1960s.McAuliffe, Jerome J: U.S. Air Force in France 1950-1967 (2005), Chapter 17, Dispersed Operating Bases

Postwar and modern use

In French control after the war, Nancy-Ochey Air Base was completely rebuilt. The wartime east–west (07/25) concrete runway, severely damaged by the war was removed, and a modern 8000' asphalt jet runway was laid down 01/19. In addition, three circular system of hardstands that could be

revetted A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water an ...

later with earth for added protection were laid out, two on the north end of the runway and one on the south. Each marguerite consisted of fifteen to eighteen hardstands around a large central hangar, with each hardstand capable of one or two aircraft, and allowed the planes to be spaced approximately 150 feet (46 m) apart. Each squadron was assigned to a separate hangar/hardstand complex. Today, Nancy Air Base is a front line French airfield, well equipped, flying state of the art aircraft. It is the home of 4 squadrons of

Dassault Mirage 2000 The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air ...

D multirole fighters (60 aircraft). *

3e Escadre de Chasse The 3e Escadre de Chasse 3e EC or 3rd Fighter Wing is a Fighter aircraft, fighter formation of the Fighter Brigade (France), Fighter Brigade () of the French Air and Space Force. History Second World War The 3rd Fighter Wing was formed on ...

: Escadron de Chasse 1/3 Navarre : SPA.95 Oriflamme chargé d'un Martinet : SPA.153 Gypaéte : SPA.62 Coq de Combat : Escadron de Chasse 2/3 Champagne : SPA.67 Cigogne de Navarre : SPA.75 Charognard : SPA.102 Soleil de Rhodes : Escadron de Chasse 3/3 Ardennes : 1° Esc GC III/3 Hure Barre bleue : 2° Esc GC III/3 Hure Barre rouge : BR.44 Sanglier assis ou Hure Barre verte * Escadron de Transformation Mirage 2000D 4/3 Argonne

References

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nancy - Ochey Air Base French Air and Space Force bases World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1915 Buildings and structures in Meurthe-et-Moselle