Tantonville 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 ...

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 ...

military airfield 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 ...

, which was located in the Département de

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Mirecourt Mirecourt () is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the Violin family. Inhabitants are called Mirecurtiens. ...

and south-southeast 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 ...

History

404th Fighter Squadron - P-47 Thunderbolt

The airfield was constructed by the IX Engineer Command as a temporary facility, with a 5000' x 120' 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, aligned 01/19. In addition the airfield contained a large parking apron, as well as for dispersal sites. Tents were used 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 a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting. It was known as Tantonville Airfield or Advanced Landing Ground Y-1 and released to

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 ...

on 25 December 1944. The

XIX Tactical Air Command The XIX Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The unit's last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force based at Biggs Field, Texas, where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. During World War II, the mission of th ...

100th Fighter Wing

371st Fighter Group 371st may refer to: * 371st Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 371st Engineer Construction Battalion or 371st Engineer Battalion, activated as a Special Service Regiment in the United States Army in 1944 *371st Fighter Gr ...

moved onto the field even before it was officially completed on 20 December, with three squadrons of

P-47 Thunderbolts 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-bomb ...

. They remained until 15 February until moving east. 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 ...

86th Fighter Group Area codes 084 and 086 are Nigerian telephone area codes serving the cities of Port Harcourt and Ahoada in Rivers State. They fall under the Southeast Zone in the National Numbering Plan (NNP) restructured in 2003. When in Port Harcourt or Ahoa ...

and its 525th, 526th, and 527th Squadrons operated

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-bom ...

s from the airfield between late February to mid-April 1945 before moving east to a captured

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 ...

airfield at Braunshardt,

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 ...

(Y-72) near Darmstadt. After the 86th moved out the airfield was manned by the 98th Service Squadron. It was used as a resupply and casualty evacuation airfield for the balance of the war. It was then dismantled and the land returned to civil authorities on 11 May 1945. The area where Tantonville Airfield was constructed is now an agricultural area, although the ground still shows evidence of its runway and parking apron.

References

* 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. * Maurer, Maurer. ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. . *
IX Engineering Command ETO Airfields layout

External links

{{authority control World War II airfields in France Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in France Airports established in 1945

History

See also

References

External links