Fassberg Air Base

Fassberg Air Base
Characteristics
ICAO code	ETHS
Coordinates	52 ° 55 '10 " N , 10 ° 11' 2" E Coordinates: 52 ° 55 '10 " N , 10 ° 11' 2" E
Height above MSL	74.7 m (245 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	2.2 km northeast of Fassberg
Basic data
opening	1934
operator	army
Runways
09/27	2440 m × 29 m asphalt
09/27	1000 m × 50 m grass

The air base Fassberg is a German military airfield in Fassberg , Lower Saxony . With a total area of 574 hectares , it is one of the Bundeswehr's largest airfields in terms of area. The airfield is mainly used by the army as an airfield for army aviators .

history

As part of the Luftwaffe's armament plans, the Reich Aviation Ministry ordered the construction of four bomber schools on August 14, 1933. a. Fassberg. A strength of 60 pilots, observers and air shooters was provided. The local authorities learned in November by the construction of the siding Poitzen - Schmarbeck of the establishment of the "Hanseatische flying school e. V. Faßberg “(cover name). A 40-man construction crew began on November 8, 1933 with the construction of the track system.

The air base was opened in 1934 for the still “camouflaged” future air force , which set up the Faßberg bomb school there on January 1, 1935 . It was renamed Faßberg Fighting School on May 1, 1935 and Faßberg Great Fighting School on November 1, 1938 . On September 5, 1939, the school and its staff were relocated to Hörsching in Upper Austria and renamed the Great Hörsching Fighting School.

The following table shows the complete list of all active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht that were stationed here between 1937 and 1945.

From	To	unit	equipment
May 1934	March 1936	I./KG 154 (I. Gruppe des Kampfgeschwaders 154)	Junkers Ju 52 / 3m , Dornier Do 11 , Dornier Do 23
August 1938	October 1938	KGr. z. b. V. 5 (Combat group for special use 5)	Junkers Ju 52 / 3m, Junkers W 34
August 1938	September 1938	Attack groups 30 and 40	Henschel Hs 123 , Heinkel He 45
October 1939	November 1939	I./KG 1	Heinkel He 111H
October 1939	February 1940	Rod / KG 1	Heinkel He 111H
October 1939	June 1941	Staff, II./KG 4	Heinkel He 111P
December 1941	July 1942	III./KG 4	Heinkel He 111H-6
January 1942	May 1944	Parts of I./KG 40	Focke-Wulf Fw 200C , Heinkel He 111H
January 1944	February 1944	II./NJG 4 (II. Group of Night Fighter Squadron 4)	Messerschmitt Bf 110F-4 , Dornier Do 217N
April 1944	April 1944	I./ZG 76 (I. Group of Destroyer Squadron 76)	Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2
May 1944	May 1944	I./Kampfgeschwader 100	Heinkel He 177A-3
June 1944	August 1944	Parts of III./KG 1	Heinkel He 177A-3, Heinkel He 177A-5
November 1944	January 1945	1./NJG 11 (1st squadron of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 11)	Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 , Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14
November 1944	December 1944	I./LG 1 (I. Group of Lehrgeschwader 1)	Junkers Ju 88S-3
April 1945	April 1945	Staff / NAGr. 6 (Staff Night Reconnaissance Group 6)

After the end of the Second World War , the British Air Force of Occupation used the air base , which the Allies initially referred to as Airfield B.152 . In the summer of 1945, the first Spitfire XVI of the 145th Wing (squadron), which consisted of a squadron of the RNZAF and three squadrons with French volunteers; the latter moved to Friedrichshafen in the French occupation zone in autumn 1945 . In 1946 the 135th Wing with three squadrons Tempest V / II and the 160th Wing with two squadrons of Belgian Spitfire were located here. The latter had been stationed here since the autumn of 1945 and moved, now with Belgian cockades , to their new base in Beauvechain in mid-October 1946 .

In 1948 and 1949, the square, now known as RAF Fassberg , was an important hub of the Berlin Airlift .

After the end of the airlift, the station was again the location of fighter-bombers, u. a. of the types Vampire and from May 1953 their successor Venom of the 121st Wing . The last aircraft of the 2nd Tactical Air Force of the RAF, two squadrons of Mosquitos, had already left Fassberg in February 1951.

After the establishment of the Bundeswehr, the property was handed over to them on December 8, 1956.

The Faßberg Air Base was u. a. Location of a training facility for Bundeswehr pilots. Until June 30, 1975, the Air Force Helicopter Driving School (HFSLw) existed at Faßberg Air Base . The HFSLw , which was subordinate to the air transport command, carried out the training of helicopter operators on the models Bell UH-1D , Alouette II and Bell 47 G2. In addition to the air force flying personnel, army and naval aviators as well as flying personnel from the Federal Border Police at the time , fire brigade and police forces and military personnel from friendly countries were trained as helicopter drivers.

Until shortly after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1990, the 4th Division of Telecommunications Regiment 33 of the Air Force was stationed at the air base . Under the code name Paper Mill , the low-flying reporting and control center was located at this location . In it, the data obtained from various long-term deployments on low-level flights on the inner-German border were collected and evaluated.

Todays use

The Army Aviation Force's 10th “Lüneburg Heath” transport helicopter regiment is currently based here. The Air Force Technical Training Center (from December 18, 2013, formerly the Air Force Technical School 3 (TSLw 3)) is also located here. The German-French training facility Eurocopter Tiger (the counterpart for training the flying crews is located in Le Luc-Le Cannet ), the Air Force technical school , the Faßberg medical supply center and a branch of the Bundeswehr service center in Bergen are also stationed at the site.

Association badge of the Bundeswehr institutions represented in Faßberg
Air Force technical training center
Transport helicopter regiment 10
German-French training facility tiger
Medical supply center
Bundeswehr Service Center in Bergen

literature

Matthias Blazek : The secret large construction site in the heath. Faßberg and his air base 1933–2013. ibidem Verlag, 2013. ISBN 978-3-838-20480-2

Web links

Commons : Faßberg Air Base - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Home page of the air base on the Air Force homepage
History of the air base at "Relict.com"
History of the Faßberg Air Base on geschichtsspuren.de
Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )

Individual evidence

^ Hans Stark: Fassberg . In: Cellesche Zeitung . 1st edition. Schweiger & Pick Verlag, Faßberg 1971, p. 42-43 .
↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp 173-175 retrieved on August 28, 2014
↑ Faßberg Air Base and Faßberg – Berlin Airlift on "geschichtsspuren.de"
↑ Gerd Scholz; Sebastian Nothing: Technical School of the Air Force 3 1956–2006, Transporthubschrauberregiment 10 1981–2006 , Faßberg 2006, o. S. (p. 27).

[1] Hans Stark: Fassberg . In: Cellesche Zeitung . 1st edition. Schweiger & Pick Verlag, Faßberg 1971, p. 42-43 .

[2] Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , pp 173-175 retrieved on August 28, 2014

[3] Faßberg Air Base and Faßberg – Berlin Airlift on "geschichtsspuren.de"

[4] Gerd Scholz; Sebastian Nothing: Technical School of the Air Force 3 1956–2006, Transporthubschrauberregiment 10 1981–2006 , Faßberg 2006, o. S. (p. 27).