Fritzlar Army Airfield
| Fritzlar Army Airfield | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | ETHF |
| IATA code | FRZ |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 172.5 m (566 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 1.9 km south of Fritzlar |
| Street | State road L3150 |
| train | Fritzlar station, Wabern-Bad Wildungen line |
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1938 |
| operator | German army |
| Start-and runway | |
| 12/30 | 1043 m × 30 m asphalt |
The army airfield Fritzlar ( ICAO code ETHF) in the north Hessian town of Fritzlar in Schwalm-Eder-Kreis is of since 1957 Army Aviation of the Bundeswehr used.
history
Wehrmacht and World War II
As part of the upgrade of the Wehrmacht in the Third Reich, which put Air Force in the years 1935-1938 a 300-hectare airbase in the Eder valley southeast of the city and named it after Oswald Boelcke (1891-1916), a famous German fighter pilot of the First World War . The topping-out ceremony was on September 17, 1937, and from March 1938 the site was the location of fighter planes and 1944–1945 night fighters .
The staff of Kampfgeschwader 54 "Totenkopf" moved in on March 14th and Group I on March 16, 1938 with their Heinkel He 111 P machines. At the beginning of the Second World War , KG 54 left Fritzlar; it never returned to its home base. The squadron became famous for its devastating bombing raid on Rotterdam on May 14, 1940.
From August 1941 to 1944 the air base served as a branch of the Dessau Junkers aircraft and engine works . The company built barracks between the air base and Fritzlar train station to house its forced laborers . On October 1, 1943, the prototype of the new "Ju 352" made its first flight in Fritzlar. A total of 44 of these machines were built in Fritzlar before production was stopped in 1944 due to a lack of materials. The destruction of the Edertalsperre on May 17, 1943 had no lasting impact on aircraft production; only a few barracks were damaged and work was back in full swing after a few weeks. Junkers did not leave Fritzlar Air Base until October 1944.
From September 1944 to March 1945 the III. Group of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (III./NJG 1) with Messerschmitt Bf 110 G and Junkers Ju 88 G stationed in Fritzlar; the future Federal President Walter Scheel was one of the young pilots of this unit. In March 1945 it was withdrawn and replaced by a school squadron from the 101 Night Fighter Squadron. Since no pilot training was possible due to a lack of fuel, the flight instructors were transferred to combat squadrons almost immediately.
The following table shows all active flying units (excluding school and supplementary units) of the Wehrmacht Air Force that were stationed here between 1938 and 1945.
| From | To | unit |
|---|---|---|
| November 1938 | April 1939 | I./KG 254 (I. Gruppe des Kampfgeschwaders 254) |
| May 1939 | August 1939 | Staff, I./KG 54 |
| October 1939 | November 1939 | Staff, I./KG 4 |
| October 1939 | December 1939 | III./KG 3 |
| December 1939 | April 1940 | Staff / Enlightenment Group Ob.dL (Staff of the Reconnaissance Group of the Commander in Chief of the Air Force) |
| December 1939 | June 1940 | 1. (F) / Aufkl.Gr. Ob.dL (1st Squadron of the Reconnaissance Group of the Commander in Chief of the Air Force) |
| May 1940 | May 1940 | 1. (F) / Aufkl.Gr. 124 (1st Squadron of Remote Reconnaissance Group 124) |
| October 1941 | November 1941 | I./LG 1 (I. Group of Lehrgeschwader 1) |
| December 1941 | March 1942 | III./LG 1 |
| April 1942 | April 1942 | 1. (F) / Aufkl.Gr. 22nd |
| September 1944 | January 1945 | III./NJG 1 ( III.group of night fighter squadron 1) |
| February 1945 | March 1945 | 6./NJG 101 (6th Squadron of Night Fighter Squadron 101) |
| March 1945 | March 1945 | Staff / NAGr. 1 (Staff Night Reconnaissance Group 1) |
| March 1945 | March 1945 | Close-up St. 13./14 |
American conquest
The almost undamaged facilities and some abandoned aircraft were captured on March 30, 1945 by units of the US 9th Infantry Division . On April 12 and 13, 1945, parts of the American 404th and 365th Fighter Group moved with their P-47 “Thunderbolts” to Fritzlar and from there supported the further advance of the American troops to the Elbe. After the German surrender , both units became part of the IXth Air Defense Command.
post war period
After the Second World War , the air base was initially used by occupation troops . Until at least the end of April 1946, however, part of the complex was also home to a UNRRA- operated DP camp for so-called displaced persons , in this case former forced laborers . In April 1946 it was still occupied by around 150 people.
1945 to 1951: American
In the period up to June 1947, various units of the US Army Air Forces were stationed at the Army Air Force Station Fritzlar :
- 404th Fighter Group, April 12–23. June 1945 ( P-47 Thunderbolt )
- 365th Fighter Group, April 13–29. July 1945 (P-47 Thunderbolt)
- 332d Bombardment Group, June – September 1945 ( B-26 Marauder )
- Staff, IXth Tactical Air Command, June 26 – September 1945
- Staff, IXth Fighter Command, July – September 1945
- 370th Fighter Group, August 6 - September 1945 (P-47 Thunderbolt)
- 366th Fighter Group, September 14, 1945-20. August 1946 (P-47 Thunderbolt)
- 27th Fighter Group, August 20, 1946-25. June 1947 (P-47 Thunderbolt)
As early as the fall of 1946, parts of the 14th US Constabulary Regiment (reclassified and renamed the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1948) moved into quarters at the air base, and on September 14, 1947 the facilities were formally handed over to the US Army , which included the headquarters and the 1st Battalion of the 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment stationed there. These forces belonged to the United States Constabulary (USCON), the US Army's paramilitary police force in the American zone of occupation . The 2nd Battalion was in Schweinfurt , the 3rd in Coburg , and the 24th Squad in Bad Hersfeld . In 1951 the 1st Battalion moved from Fritzlar to Hersfeld, and when the regiment's headquarters moved to Fulda in 1952, the American military presence in Fritzlar ended.
During the Berlin Airlift (June 1948 – May 1949) Fritzlar served as a radio beacon and emergency landing site for the raisin bombers flying from the major American air bases in Wiesbaden ( Wiesbaden Air Base ) and Frankfurt am Main ( Rhein-Main Air Base ) .
1951–1956: French
In August 1951 French army troops - parts of the 5th Hussar Regiment newly formed in Koblenz in April 1951, initially with light tanks of the M24 Chaffee type , from 1954 with AMX-13 reconnaissance tanks - came to the barracks , which are now in "Quartier General Lasalle “Were renamed. They were later replaced by parts of the 3rd Infantry Division.
armed forces
With the formation of the Bundeswehr in 1956, the occupation troops withdrew, and in their place a grenadier and a tank reconnaissance battalion of the Bundeswehr and from October 1, 1957 also army aviators moved in : the army aviation squadrons 812 and 813 and the army aviation transport squadron 822. The air base became the Heeresflugplatz Fritzlar and after Niedermendig and at the same time as Celle it was the second army airfield on which regular flight operations prevailed; however, ground troops remained stationed there. Among them were or are:
- 1956–1992: Panzergrenadierbataillon 22 (renamed Panzergrenadierbataillon 53 in 1959)
- 1956–1962: Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 5
- 1958–1972: Feldjägerdienstkommando Fritzlar
- 1958–1994: Army Aviation Squadron 2
- March 1959 – Sept. 1961: Armored Artillery Battalion 21
- 1961–1971: Air Defense Battalion 2
- 1963–1967, 1979–1996: Fernspähkompanie 300
- 1967–1994: Defense District Command 441
- 1971–1980: Light Army Aviation Transport Regiment 30
- 1981–1994: Panzer Pioneer Company 50
- 1993–1996: 3rd / Maintenance Battalion 310
- 1996–2002: Army Aviation Training Squadron 8 / IV and 8 / V
- 2002–2012: Army Aviation Squadron 369
- 1996 – today: Fritzlar local medical center
- 2001–2007: Fritzlar Medical Center
- 2002–2007: Sanitary Control Center 210
- 2007 – today: Technical Medical Center Fritzlar
In 1964 the previous “Flugplatz-Kaserne” was renamed “Georg-Friedrich-Kaserne” in honor of Field Marshal Georg Friedrich von Waldeck-Eisenberg (1620–1692).
1997 Air Mechanized Brigade 1 was put into service in Fritzlar . This was the first time that the army received quickly deployable and airmobile infantry forces.
In 2006, as part of the reorganization of the Bundeswehr, the staff and the staff company of Air Movable Brigade 1 , the combat helicopter regiment 36 "Kurhessen" belonging to this brigade , and parts of Jägerregiment 1 (airmobile) were stationed in Fritzlar; these units were all part of the new Air Mobile Operations division . The combat helicopter regiment 36 was initially equipped with combat helicopters of the type Bo 105 , both in the anti-tank version ( Bo 105 P : "PAH-1" and "PAH-1A1") and in the VBH version (connection and observation helicopters). The conversion to the Eurocopter Tiger should be completed by 2014.
Airmobile Brigade 1 was decommissioned on December 17, 2013.The remaining helicopter units of the Army, the 10th transport helicopter regiment , the 30th transport helicopter regiment and the 36 combat helicopter regiment in Fritzlar, became part of the Special Operations Division (renamed the Rapid Forces Division on January 1, 2014 ) subordinated to Stadtallendorf . The remaining units of the brigade were decommissioned by the end of 2013.
See also
literature
- Jürgen Preuß: 70 years of Fritzlar Airfield, 1938–2008: From Kampfgeschwader 54 to Combat Helicopter Regiment 36th Heeresfliegerwaffenschule, Bückeburg 2008. ( online and PDF )
Web links
- Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )
- Fritzlar, at the Military Airfield Directory
Individual evidence
- ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Germany (1937 Borders) , accessed on August 28, 2014
- ↑ Paul Gerhard Lohmann: Jewish fellow citizens in Fritzlar 1933-1949. BoD, Norderstedt, 2006, ISBN 3-8334-4417-7 , p. 98
- ↑ Maurer Maurer: Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Zenger, Washington, 1980 (reprint of the GPO edition from 1961), ISBN 0-89201-092-4 .
- ↑ United States Constabulary. ( Memento of the original from October 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ In honor of the French hussar general Antoine Charles Louis Collinet, Comte de Lasalle (1775–1809), who fell in the battle of Wagram .
- ↑ Bayerische Flugzeug Historiker e. V .: Army aviator.
- ↑ Traditional Association Schwalm Artillery 1992 eV: Garrison Treysa
- ↑ History of the Air Defense Battalion / Air Defense Regiment 2
- ↑ Established in 2007 as part of the target structure of the medical service 2010 of the Bundeswehr.
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