B. 100 Goch

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B.100 Goch was a British field airfield on the area of ​​today's municipality of Weeze during the Second World War . With the advance of the Allies, it was necessary for the air forces to advance together with the ground forces. Air superiority was to be achieved, for which airfields and makeshift landing pads were required to follow the advancing front. British landing sites were named with the prefix "B" and a sequential number.

The main thrust of the British and Canadians was the Ruhr area and northern Germany; the crossing of the Rhine began on March 23, 1945 ( Operation Plunder ) between Emmerich and Xanten .

A Canadian Typhoon of the 439th Season in Goch

The first landing site at Goch was a narrow strip used by the 662 Squadron of the Royal Air Force between March 4 and 26, 1945. The aircraft used were Taylorcraft Auster.

The main landing site B.100 was just before the German-Dutch border, 8 miles (13 km) southeast of the village of Goch and 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Weeze. The 3,600-foot (1,180-meter) runway was made of perforated steel decking with a parallel grass runway for emergencies. A mile (1.6 km) northwest, near the site used by the 662 Squadron, was a 3000-foot (983-meter) grass runway that would have been ready for an emergency evacuation.

The infrastructure was adequate but simple: accommodation was in tents, the aircraft were refueled using gasoline cans and mobile lighting was available to enable night flights. The facility had the capacity for two squadrons (wings).

The first aircraft of the No. 121 (Typhoon) Wing came to Goch on March 20, 1945. Ten days later, the Canadian No. 143 added. The Hawker Typhoon of the 121st Squadron were attacked in mid-April against Supermarines of the Canadian No. 127 Wing replaced, which were withdrawn at the end of the month.

This ended the operation of B.100. However, the site was later intended to accommodate one of the new, permanent air bases that the RAF wanted to build in Germany. In 1954 the Royal Air Force opened the Laarbruch military airfield there, which was later converted into the civil Niederrhein airport .

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Coordinates: 51 ° 36 ′ 8.7 "  N , 6 ° 8 ′ 31.8"  E