Varrelbusch airfield

Varrelbusch airfield
Characteristics
ICAO code	EDWU
IATA code	VAC
Coordinates	52 ° 54 '30 "  N , 8 ° 2' 26"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 54 '30 "  N , 8 ° 2' 26"  E
Height above MSL	39 m (128  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	7 km north of Cloppenburg
Street	Werner-Baumbach-Str.
train	Branch line Cloppenburg - Friesoythe
Basic data
opening	1940, reopening in 1956
operator	Luftsportverein Cloppenburg eV
Start-and runway
09/27	930 m × 32 m grass

The Varrelbusch airfield is a German airfield in the Lower Saxony district of Cloppenburg and has the status of a commercial airfield .

General

The operator is the air sports club Cloppenburg . The airfield is located about seven kilometers from Cloppenburg between Garrel and Cloppenburg in the area of ​​the Cloppenburg district of Staatsforsten .

The airfield is regularly used as a drop-off area for paratroopers of the Bundeswehr , who usually take off from the nearby Alhorn airfield and land over Varrelbusch in a parachute jump.

society

The LSV Cloppenburg eV is divided into the areas of powered flight and glider flight. Two Cessna 172 SPs, an Aquila AT01 (A211 NVFR), a Diamond-Aircraft Dimona motor glider and a Piper PA 28-180 are available as aircrafts owned by the club. Sightseeing and other guest flights with club pilots are possible on weekends and public holidays by arrangement. There is a lively training of young pilots.

In the area of ​​gliding, different types of two-seaters, e.g. B. ASK 21 (also for flying), and single-seaters, for example LS4 , operated. There is an opportunity for training in the gliding department.

The airfield is used by the Parachute Jump Club Wildeshausen as a jumping area.

history

After a year of planning, the construction of a military airfield in Varrelbusch began in 1938, obviously in preparation for war . For this purpose, an extensive forest and heather north of Cloppenburg, which was close to the Cloppenburg - Friesoythe railway line, was bought up by various farmers. A large part of the area bought was made available by Gut Westfalenhof, which belonged to Klöckner.

Flight operations at the airbase began during the French campaign in 1940 with combat units, with Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88 were equipped. Attacks were initially carried out against the western front . From September 1944 He 111 started from Varrelbusch with attached V1 of Kampfgeschwader 53 "Legion Condor" . The cruise missile was released over the North Sea and the triggering mechanism started, which launched the projectile and directed it towards Great Britain.

The following table shows a list of selected active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Wehrmacht Air Force that were stationed here between 1939 and 1945.

From	To	unit	equipment
April 1940	May 1940	II./KG 54 (II. Group of Kampfgeschwader 54)	Heinkel He 111P
December 1943	March 1944	I./KG 76	Junkers Ju 88A-4
December 1943	January 1944	II./KG 76	Junkers Ju 88A-4
January 1944	March 1944	Task Force / Combat Squadron 101	Junkers Ju 88A-4
September 1944	October 1944	Staff III., 9./KG 3	Heinkel He 111H-16
September 1944	September 1944	III./KG 6	Junkers Ju 188A-2
November 1944	December 1944	III./JG 54 ( III.Group of Jagdgeschwader 54)	Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9

After repeated bombing by the Allies, the airfield, which they designated as Airfield B.113 , was taken by Canadian troops on April 13, 1945 without a fight. They repaired the place immediately and flew combat missions with English and Dutch pilots against other sections of the front from here until the German surrender . Shortly after the surrender, the airborne units of the Allies, including the 131st Wing (squadron) of the British Air Force of Occupation with Polish pilots, vacated the place. From 1948 there was no more flight operations. This then served the British as a repair area and assembly point for all types of military vehicles from jeeps to tanks. At times up to 40,000 vehicles were gathered here, which were then transported to England by train. When the British withdrew in 1950, the runways, taxiways, side roads, aircraft parking spaces and ammunition bunkers were blown up so that the airfield was completely unusable.

With the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, the entire area was taken over by the property office. A part of the area was used as a FlaRak position from 1973 to 2002 . This was initially equipped with NIKE missiles and later with PATRIOT missiles. Another part of the site, in particular a former runway, was rented as an airfield by the Cloppenburg air sports club for civil purposes.

See also

• List of German airfields

literature

• Lawicka, Heinz: The Varrelbusch airfield - In: Volkstum und Landschaft. Home pages of the Münsterland daily newspaper. Supplement in No. 200. Cloppenburg 2007
• Axel Urbanke: In action with FW D-9. The history of III./JG 54 1944/45 and the way of their men until the end of the war at JG 26 , VDM Heinz Nickel Zweibrücken 1998, ISBN 3-92548-025-0

Web links

• lsv-cloppenburg.de - LSV Cloppenburg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp 660-661 , accessed on August 29, 2014