Woensdrecht military airfield

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Vliegbasis Woensdrecht
VliegbasisWoensdrechtNov2018-1.jpg
Characteristics
ICAO code EHWO
IATA code WOE
Coordinates

51 ° 26 '56 "  N , 4 ° 20' 30"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 26 '56 "  N , 4 ° 20' 30"  E
Height above MSL 19 m (62  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 10 km south of Bergen op Zoom
Street east of the A 58
Basic data
opening 1934
operator Dutch Air Force
Start-and runway
07/25 2440 m × 45 m asphalt / concrete

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The military airfield Woensdrecht ( Dutch Vliegbasis Woensdrecht , English Woensdrecht Air Base ) is a military airfield of the Dutch Air Force . The base is in the province of North Brabant, east of the eponymous municipality of Woensdrecht . It serves the Dutch armed forces ( KLu ) today in particular as a training base. There is also a civil aircraft maintenance company on the site.

history

Woensdrecht Airfield was opened in 1934 as a glider and flying school field for the Royal Air Force of the Netherlands.

After the occupation of the Netherlands by the German Wehrmacht , the base was from the Air Force bombed and later in the Second World War as an air base used. Fighter groups from various squadrons were located here. These included two squadrons of Group I of Jagdgeschwader 52 (I./JG 52) in the spring of 1941, various squadrons of Group II of Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1) between January 1942 and summer 1943 and the entire I. Group of Jagdgeschwader 26 (I./JG 26) in the summer of 1943. The squadrons were initially equipped with Bf 109s , later also with Fw 190s .

After the area was liberated by the Allies in December 1944, the airfield was operated by the British Royal Air Force as Airfield B.79 , its allied code name, until the end of the war . Among other things, the Spitfire XVIe of the 322nd Squadron, flown by the Dutch, lay here in January / February 1945 .

After the end of the war, the base again became a training airfield in the Netherlands.

The GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area (GAMA) at the Woensdrecht Air Station base with the three Ready Storage Shelters (RSS) for 48 cruise missiles

After the NATO double decision , the alliance decided in 1983 to station 48 ground-based cruise missiles , which were to be equipped with nuclear warheads , at Woensdrecht Air Station. The operation should be carried out by the 486th Tactical Missile Wing of the 17th US Air Fleet , the latter had its headquarters in Sembach in the Palatinate . After the airfield had been prepared to accommodate the Tomahawks and the 1,100 men of the squadron, the INF contract was signed in 1987 , so that there was no longer any missile stationing.

Military use

PC-7, recorded at "RIAT" at RAF Fairford , 2006

The base is currently (2014) used by a flying squadron :

  • 131st (EMVO) Squadron , equipped with Pilatus PC-7 training aircraft for basic training, as part of the Air Force Military School

It also includes other non-flying units and the meteorological service and the logistics center are located in Woensdrecht.

Civil use

The military airfield is used by the company Fokker Services for aircraft maintenance. It specializes in aircraft from the Fokker company .

Web links

Commons : Military Air Base Woensdrecht  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files