Cambrai-Épinoy military airfield
| Base aérienne 103 Cambrai-Épinoy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |||
| ICAO code | LFQI | ||
| IATA code | XCB | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Height above MSL | 78 m (256 ft ) | ||
| Transport links | |||
| Distance from the city center | 8 km northwest of Cambrai | ||
| Street |
D 643 7 km to 
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| Basic data | |||
| opening | 1917 | ||
| closure | 2013 | ||
| operator | Armée de l'air | ||
| surface | 350 ha | ||
| Start-and runway | |||
| 10/28 | 2500 m × 50 m concrete | ||
The Base aérienne 103 Cambrai-Épinoy (BA 103) was a military airfield of the French Air Force ( Armée de l'air ) . The base, which was named after Commandant René Mouchotte since 1959 and was closed in 2013, is located in the region of Hauts-de-France in the department of Nord in the field Épinoys and the neighboring communities Haynecourt and Sauchy-Lestrée about eight kilometers northwest of Cambrai . It was used by German air forces in both world wars and was the northernmost French combat aircraft base in the decades before it was closed.
In the course of the conversion, an industrial area with a focus on logistics and e-commerce is being created here under the project name Narval . This also includes a training facility for the job profiles required for this.
history
During the First World War , Épinoy was a field airfield for the German air force . The first user was the (Prussian) Jasta 12 equipped with Albatros D.III / D.Va between mid-February and mid-April 1917 .
From mid-April 1918 the square became a base for the ( Bavarian ) Jastas 23b , 32b and 35b with Albatros D.II /D.Va. On August 1, Epinoy was the target of an air raid by the Royal Air Force (RAF). After the Jasta 32b had left Épinoy in early August, the other two squadrons were withdrawn from Épinoy within a few days at the end of August 1918.
During the Second World War , both the Cambrai-Épinoy base north of Cambrais and the still-existing Aérodrome de Cambrai-Niergnies south of the city were used by the air force. From the available sources it is not always clear where the respective units were stationed.
Already more than ten days after the beginning of the Western campaign were the German Wehrmacht , the slopes at Cambrai in his hands and Niergnies was the end of May as a landing ground for two days based on the Bf 109E of I. and II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 3 (I. and ii./ JG 3). The I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 21 (II./JG 21), also equipped with the "Emil", was also in the Cambrai area for a few days. In addition, the II. (Battle) Group of the Lehrgeschwaders 2 (II. (Battle) / LG2) with their Hs 123 and parts of the II. Group of the Sturzkampfgeschwaders 2 (II./StG 2) with Ju 87B were added until mid-June . Other users in June were the 4th close-up reconnaissance squadron of long-range reconnaissance group 22 (4th (H) / 22) with Hs 126 and the 1st group of Kampfgeschwader 76 (I./KG 76) with Do 17Z .
In place of the latter group, another Do 17Z unit moved to Cambrai at the beginning of July with the II. Group of Kampfgeschwaders 2 (III./KG 2), which remained stationed here until the end of March 1941. In addition, from the autumn of 1940 the headquarters of KG 2 was in Niergnies. After a phase of reduced flight operations, the Fw 189A of the 2nd squadron of the local reconnaissance group 32 (2. (H) / 32) were in the Cambrai area between December 1941 and May 1942.
After a further period of rest, the II. Group of Jagdgeschwader 26 (II./JG 26) with their Fw 190A was initially in Épinoy between the beginning of October 1943 and mid-March 1944 and then in Niergnies until mid-May 1944, with a one-week break in April stationed.
The area around Cambrai was liberated by the Western Allies in September 1944 and the airfield was initially given the code name Airfield A.75 , but was subsequently renumbered to B.72 because it was to be used by the British Royal Air Force . Between November 1944 and September 1945, Épinoy was among other things the base of Mosquito FB.VI of the 138th Wing of the RAF. The squadron included the 305th (Polish) , 487th ( RNZAF ) and 613th Squadron .
In 1946, Épinoy was the base of the Groupe de Reconnaissance 1/31 (GR 1/31) "Lorraine", a Mosquito PR.16 reconnaissance group, for a few months before the area was used for agriculture for a few years.
After the beginning of the Cold War , the airfield was reactivated and from 1951 expanded into a NATO base suitable for jets . Two years later , the Escadron de Chasse 1/12 (EC 1/12) "Cambrésis", a fighter group equipped with Ouragan , arrived from Mont-de-Marsan as part of the 12th Fighter Squadron , 12e Escadre de Chasse (12e EC) of the air base 103. In the following two years two more flying groups, the EC 2/12 "Picardie" and EC 3/12 "Cornouaille", were added and the entire 12th fighter squadron was converted to the Mystère IV in 1955 . The 2nd hunting group was disbanded in 1957 while the 1st received the Super Mystère B2 in spring and the 3rd in July 1959 . At the same time, the EC3 / 12 became the EC 2/12 "Cornouaille". The following year, EC 1/12 became a founding member of the NATO Tiger Association .
After 17 years of flight operations with the SMB2, the EC 1/12 had been using the Mirage F1C since the beginning of 1978 . The conversion of the EC 2/12 took place the following year and then the EC 2/12 got its previous number EC 3/12 back. The EC 2/12 "Picardie" was set up again in June 1980 as another Mirage F1 group of the 12e EC, it took part in missions in Chad in the mid-1980s and in the Gulf War together with the EC 1/12 in 1990/1991 .
The first two fighter groups were operational from the third quarter of 1992 with the Mirage 2000C / RDI , they took part in operations over Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina with this operational pattern . The EC 3/12, which had no longer been converted to the Mirage 2000, was dissolved as the F1 group in 1995. At the same time, the 12th Fighter Squadron was disbanded and the other two fighter groups became autonomous.
In July 2008, the then French Defense Minister Hervé Morin announced the plan to close base 103. EC 2/12 was then finally dissolved in July 2009. From June 2010, the EC 1/12 again sent a contingent to Chad and was also decommissioned at the end of March 2012, ending 95 years of military aviation in Cambrai.
