Valkenburg military airfield

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Vliegkamp Valkenburg
ValkenburgNavyTop.jpg
Characteristics
ICAO code EHVB
IATA code LID
Coordinates

52 ° 10 '0 "  N , 4 ° 25' 9"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 10 '0 "  N , 4 ° 25' 9"  E
Height above MSL 0 m (0  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 4 km west of Leiden
Street 1 km north of the A 44
Basic data
opening 1940
operator Dutch Navy
Runways
05/23 2440 m × 45 m asphalt / concrete
16/34 1500 m × 45 m asphalt / concrete

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The Vliegkamp Valkenburg was an important military airfield of the Dutch Koninklijke Marine in the province of South Holland in the south of the urban area of ​​the city of Katwijk on the outskirts of the district Valkenburg . It was created shortly before World War II and closed in 2006. The last time it served the Navy as a base for maritime patrols .

history

Construction of the airfield began in 1939, but had not yet opened before the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht in May 1940. The base was established in 1940 by the Air Force developed and later in the Second World War than to 1943 airbase Katwijk used. Hunting teams equipped with Bf 109 and Fw 190 only lay here for short stays . The longest stay was that of the 8th Squadron of Jagdgeschwader 54 (8./JG 54) from October to December 1940. After the area was liberated by the Allies, the base was taken over by the British Royal Air Force , which it renamed Airfield B. 93 designated.

After the end of the war, the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu) used the base for a short time before it was ceded to the naval aviation in 1947 . A transport squadron of the KLu was here in parallel until 1957. The navy initially had PBM-5A Mariner and carrier-supported Sea Hawks and S-2F trackers stationed here. However, for decades she used the airfield in particular as the home base of her two maritime patrol squadrons, the 320th and 321st, which flew the P2V-5 Neptune , Atlantique and, most recently, from 1982 the P-3C Orion . After the air force base in Ypenburg was closed in 1992, Valkenburg was also used for VIP flights by the government and the royal family .

With the delivery of the P-3C to Germany and Portugal, the Dutch Navy lost this capability and the base was closed in 2006. Part of the facility was still used as a glider flying site until it was dismantled in 2015 .