Venlo-Herongen Air Base

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Venlo-Herongen Air Base
Type Air base
Location of the air base in Germany
operator formerly German Air Force, formerly Unites States Army Air Forces
opening Construction began in October 1940, opening in March 1941
city Venlo (NL), Nettetal (D), Straelen (D)

The former Venlo air base crosses borders in the Netherlands and Germany . The air base is located in the area of Venlo , Nettetal - Leuth and Straelen - Herongen . The site is located immediately south of today's motorway ( A 40 on the German or A 67 on the Dutch side) and about 3 km behind junction 1 "Nettetal-West" of the A 61 (former Schwanenhaus border crossing ).

The systems are no longer used in their original form. Part of the area on the German side served the Bundeswehr as a long-term depot , while other parts are temporarily used as a military training area by NATO countries . On the Dutch side, a glider club uses parts of the runways . Most of the facility is freely accessible and can be entered. Remnants of ruins can be found in many places on the site.

Technical specifications

Arched hangar

In 1941 the air base covered an area of ​​1800 ha. There were three paved runways (2 × 1450 m, 1 × 1200 m) with electric runway lighting consisting of around 2000 lamps. The air base had radar guidance and more than 48 km of roads.

Later there was a satellite camp of the Kamp Vught concentration camp at the air base .

numbers

Construction work

The construction work, for which up to 15,000 workers, mostly Dutch workers and construction companies, were in action at the beginning of 1941, cost around 62.316 million Dutch guilders by March 1943, which corresponds to around 335 million euros in terms of purchasing power in 2004. These costs were borne by the Netherlands.

Forced labor by concentration camp inmates

From August 1943, initially 200 and later up to 700 Jewish concentration camp inmates from the Kamp Vught concentration camp were assigned to forced labor at the air base, which thus became a branch of the concentration camp. The Jewish forced laborers were replaced by non-Jewish concentration camp prisoners from October 1943, and 200 concentration camp prisoners remained there for forced labor until September 1944.

Planes

On January 9, 1944, around 65 aircraft were stationed in Venlo-Herongen. 37 belonged to I./NJG 1 , including a Do 217N , a Fw 190 , four He 219A-0 , two Ju 88R-2 , two Bf 110G-2 , 20 Bf 110G-4, one Bf 110B, one Fw 58C , a Fi 156 , a Kl 35A , an Ar 66C , a Bf 108D-1 and a Bü 131D . Another five aircraft (all Ju 88C-6) belonged to the reconnaissance squadron of NJG 1 and 23 machines belonged to Luftdienstkommando 2/3. These were two Bf 109Ds , one He 70F , six Do 17E , eleven Do 17F, one Do 17Z and two Ju 88A.

Personnel and equipment

More than 2000 people were employed at the Venlo-Herongen air base, 350 of them from the Netherlands and around 1800 German. The air base had a hangar and 99 aircraft hangars, 20 of which were heated hangars, 37 unheated brick hangars and 42 unheated arched hangars.

Kills and losses

About 585 Allied aircraft were shot down from this air base. There were 2,500 dead and prisoners of war on the Allied side, and 170 dead and wounded on the German side.

History of the site

Pre-war period 1911-1940

In the middle of the 19th century, a flat part of the "Groote Heide" east of Venlo in today's Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park was created as a shooting and practice area.

Venlo was a stage of the European sightseeing flight on June 21, 1911 : 40 aircraft took off from Vincennes near Paris on June 18, in front of more than 400,000 spectators. He had twelve stations: Liege, Spa, Venlo, Soesterberg, Gilze Rijen, Brussels, Roubaix, Calais, Dover, London Dover, Calais, Amiens back to Paris. 580,000 French francs were offered as prize money. The money essentially raised the milestones; these sold tickets for the airfields.

In 1913, an auxiliary landing pad was created there for the Dutch Air Force, which was being built. The military importance of this auxiliary landing site was minor because of the close border with Germany. The place became better known among the population through public flight demonstrations, where one could experience the aviation up close. A visit to the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin airship in November 1930 should be emphasized: during this demonstration flight it hovered over the Grote Heide to pick up and drop off mail bags.

During the German invasion of the neutral Netherlands in May 1940 as part of the western campaign (which ended shortly after with the capitulation of France) there were no battles at the airfield: the Dutch planned to defend the other bank of the Meuse ; they did not want to fight with the Meuse behind them and were poorly equipped. On May 10, 1940, the III. Battalion of Infantry Regiment 234 (part of the 56th Infantry Division ) to carry out a coup d'état on the bridges near Venlo. The Dutch blew up the bridge before the Germans reached it. The regiment broke through the bunker line and advanced further west, on May 11th Venlo was completely occupied.

From the auxiliary landing pad to the air force base

It was only when a German air defense was organized in the Netherlands in the autumn of 1940 that deployment ports were also required for the night-hunting units under construction . From October 1940, the responsible construction management of the Air Force had the Venlo auxiliary landing site expanded into an air base . The construction was mainly carried out by Dutch construction companies and thousands of Dutch workers who were quartered in Venlo and the surrounding area. The almost 1,800 hectare air base was occupied with black camouflaged night fighters of the I. Group of I. Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (I./NJG 1) before it was completed in March 1941 . This unit was under the leadership of Captain Werner Streib .

March 1941 to July 1943

The night fighters defended a section in the so-called " Kammhuber Line ", a belt of anti-aircraft searchlights and night hunting airports. Only when the night fighters were supported by radar technology ( Würzburg-Riese ) in early 1942 did the success increase. British air raids on the Ruhr area began on March 5, 1943 .

He 219

It was during these months that the Venlo night fighters had their greatest successes, also because the group was reinforced by experienced crews from other units. The Heinkel He 219 night fighter aircraft, specially developed for night hunting , was also deployed from Venlo for the first time.

From July 1943 onwards there were no successes and the I./NJG 1 got another opponent - the US-American 8th Air Force of the USAAF .

Eight kilometers north of Venlo, in Schandelo, the Germans created a dummy airfield with a 100-meter-long dummy runway. The air base's electric runway lighting could be switched on and off from the control tower; on the other hand, the pit lamps at Schandelo false airport burned for a long time. One became aware of this on the Allied side; the Allied pilots stopped the initial air raids on Schandelo and used the pit lamps as a guide.

The flight control of the eyrie achieved success in defending against enemy long-distance night fighters through good cooperation with the Klein-Fluko (air watch command) in Venray , which was also responsible for the area around Venlo.

July 1943 to February 1944

In August 1943 the decision was made to expand all air-endangered airfields in the Netherlands. Several hundred concentration camp prisoners from the Dutch concentration camp " Camp Vught " were deployed in Venlo . In December 1943 two aerial observation teams were set up in Venlo. These squadrons were supposed to inform the air force command of the often confusing night-time air situation in this area. In February 1944 the IV. Group of Jagdgeschwader 3 (IV./JG 3) was stationed in Venlo. The Bf 109 fighter aircraft were used with more losses than successes in the "day hunt". On February 25th, Marauder Bomber ( Martin B-26 ) of the 9th USAAF flew the first major attack against Venlo airfield.

February 1944 to September 1944

Flight control tower

Until the airfield is closed, three units are still of interest from an aviation historical perspective: the test command 410 ( Me 410 as a night fighter); the 2./JG 400 (with rocket fighter Me 163 ) and III./KG 3 ( He 111 as a carrier for V1 cruise missiles). The operations of these units had little influence on the further events of the war; the Allied air superiority was too great. On August 15 and September 3, 1944, the airfield was bombed and badly damaged. The I./NJG 1 was relocated to Münster-Handorf on September 5, but the entire radio and radar technology department was relocated to Eschwege. The Allied air landings ( Operation Market Garden ) near Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem marked the end of Venlo airfield. Most of the facilities were blown up by the Wehrmacht . The subcamp was closed. The concentration camp prisoners were transported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in cattle wagons . The trip took two days without water. From Sachsenhausen those who had survived until then were driven on “ death marches ” in the direction of Schwerin , which still claimed many victims.

The end of the airfield

From March 1, 1945, Venlo was liberated by the Allied forces and the airfield was repaired as the "Yankee 55" airfield. American reconnaissance planes and fighter-bombers of the 9th Air Force flew missions to enable the Allied Rhine crossing. Special visitors to Venlo included celebrities such as Queen Wilhelmina , Eisenhower and Churchill . From the end of April two groups of bombers waited to be demobilized. When the airfield was abandoned in September 1945, millions of bricks from the runways were reused to repair war damage. Since 1946 the Venlo glider club has been using part of the former runway as a glider flying area. The old air traffic control tower was officially declared a monument in 2005.

Friends of the Former Fliegerhorst Venlo eV

The association is an initiative of Germans and Dutch on both sides of the border and wants to protect and preserve the historical architectural and ground monuments in the area of ​​the former Venlo-Herongen air base. As a memorial of silence, they are intended to keep alive the memory of war sufferings, the concentration camp subcamp and aviation history. The aim is to promote scientific research into the history of the former Venlo air base and to pass on knowledge and results to educational institutions for the public, in particular for peace education and historical education for subsequent generations as well as to promote the commemoration of the civil and military victims of all nations during the Second World War .

Initiatives

  • Regular tours of the site by car or bicycle
  • External lectures or on the premises
  • Conservation and restoration work
  • Establishment of an information center.

literature

  • Rheinisches Landesamt für Bodendenkmalpflege (Hg.): The Westwall . From the monument value of the unpleasant, guide to the archaeological monuments in the Rhineland , text and maps 1: 50,000, 2nd edition 1998 ISBN 3-7927-1668-2 A detailed description of the remains of the West Wall in North Rhine-Westphalia with summaries in English and French . In the appendix 6 topographic maps on a scale of 1: 50,000.
The airfield is described in detail in the guide from page 297 onwards.
  • Kleve district: The Second World War between the Rhine and Maas , Heinz Bosch, 4th edition 1977, ISBN 3-921760-00-3 , pp. 122-134.
  • M. Hogenhuis, Venlo Air Base - De rol van Luftwaffe-vliegveld Venlo in de Duitse luchtverdediging in WO-II (unpublished thesis, Dutch, Amsterdam 1995)
  • Hub Groenveld, Vliegveld Venlo: van bevrijding tot ontmanteling , Dutch, Venlo 2005.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b www.venlosezweefvliegclub.nl
  2. ↑ Rheinische Post, August 24, 2011
  3. ↑ a b A logistical masterpiece
  4. ↑ Pit lamps were used as "runway lighting". He 111 dummy aircraft made of wood and makeshift hangars were set up near the runway. In practice, the bogus airport did not meet the expectations placed on it. - In Schandelo today there is nothing left except a bunker.
  5. ↑ RP of July 3, 2012, p. C3 (local): This is assured by a contemporary witness named Albert Wirtz from Viersen.

Coordinates: 51 ° 22 ′ 17 "  N , 6 ° 12 ′ 59"  E