RAF Brüggen

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Royal Air Force Station Brüggen

Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom, svg

Royal Air Force Ensign
active 1953 to June 15, 2001
Country Germany
Armed forces UK : British Armed Forces
Armed forces Royal Air Force
Type Air Force Base
Insinuation RAF Second Tactical Air Force ,
then RAF Germany ,
finally No. 2 Group RAF
Location Elmpt , North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany
Nickname "Brüggen", Bruggers "
motto To Seek and Strike
march Royal Air Force March Past
Butcher Second Gulf War , Kosovo War
Aircraft
Fighter aircraft /
helicopter
English Electric Canberra ,
F-4 Phantom II ,
SEPECAT Jaguar ,
Panavia Tornado
RAF Brüggen
RAF Brüggen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
Red pog.svg
Characteristics
ICAO code ETUR
IATA code BGN
Coordinates

51 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  N , 6 ° 7 ′ 46 ″  E Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 0 ″  N , 6 ° 7 ′ 46 ″  E

Height above MSL 73 m (240  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center 5 km southwest of Brüggen
Street A52
Basic data
opening 1953
operator formerly: Royal Air Force , today: British Army
Start-and runway
09/27 2487 m of asphalt

i1 i3


i7 i10 i12 i14

BW

The former Royal Air Force Station Brüggen , RAF Brüggen for short , was an important military airfield of the Royal Air Force in Germany until June 15, 2001 . The base was named after the municipality of Brüggen , the closest railway depot, but it was located next to the village of Elmpt , about 44 kilometers west of Düsseldorf .

Along with RAF Wildenrath , RAF Laarbruch , RAF Geilenkirchen and RAF Nörvenich, it was the second of a total of five so-called clutch stations , newly built RAF bases near the border with the Netherlands and thus as far away as possible from the then inner-German border .

history

At the beginning of the Cold War it became clear that the British Air Force of Occupation , which had been stationed in the British zone of occupation since 1945 , would remain stationed in the Federal Republic for a longer period of time. The RAF was based in the first years after the war in several mostly former airbases of the former Air Force , some of which are only a few minutes flying time from the " Iron Curtain " were removed.

Construction began in 1952; they included clearing forest areas and draining wetlands. The air base began operations in 1953 as part of the rapid deployment of NATO troops in Europe .

317 Supply & Transport Column

In 1953 the 317 Supply and Transport Column was relocated from Uetersen to Brüggen. This happened after the decision to supply all RAF locations in Germany with supplies via the port of Antwerp . In 1953, the unit was renamed Mechanical Transport Squadron and was responsible for equipping and replenishing all RAF bases in Germany and the Netherlands. The unit remained in Brüggen until it was integrated into the 431 Maintenance Unit in 1963, but continued to operate until 1993. The dissolution of the 317 MT Squadron marked the end of an era as it had arrived on the European continent immediately after landing in Normandy under its former name 317 Supply & Transport Column . It had built a remarkable reputation for itself and, after the fighting ceased, carried out convoys to Prague , Warsaw and Moscow .

During its service, the unit performed a variety of humanitarian missions; the first was the transport of medical supplies to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp . The unit also took part in the Berlin Airlift ( Operation Plain Fare ) and, in the winter of 1962/63, organized a convoy of tank trucks to the oil refineries in Rotterdam , with which heating oil was delivered to German hospitals, because of the frozen shipping lanes .

1957–1998 - Air strike / air raid role

Bruges Jaguar of the 31st Squadron in Finningley , 1977
Hardened Aircraft Shelter at RAF Brüggen, 1981

The first airborne unit to be stationed in Brüggen was the 112th Squadron, previously in RAF Jever , with its Vampire FB.5 , which arrived in July 1953. A month later, a newly established squadron Saber F4 , the 130th Squadron was added and in January 1954 the 112th was converted to the Saber. Between January and April 1956, the conversion to the Hunter F4 took place , a total of four squadrons. Some time later there was a squadron of Javelin FAW1 Tagjäger here in a row and from the summer of 1957 the stationing of two squadrons of the Canberra PR7 / B (I) 6 made it possible for the first time to carry out air raids from RAF Bruggen. From 1969 to 1975 F-4 Phantom II were used as fighter-bombers in Brüggen, which were replaced by SEPECAT Jaguar from 1975 . The Jaguars of the season were replaced by Panavia Tornado GR1 from the beginning of 1984 . Brüggen and the nearby RAF Laarbruch air base (now Niederrhein Airport ), each with a maximum of four Tornado GR1 squadrons, formed the two locations with the largest tornado force in NATO. Hardened Aircraft Shelters (hardened aircraft shelters) were equipped with the American Weapon Storage and Security System (WS3) and could each store up to four tactical nuclear weapons of the British type WE.177 that could be used by the Tornado fighter-bombers .

1984 - Nuclear Weapons Incident

On September 4, 2007, the UK Armed Forces admitted that there had been a nuclear weapon incident on May 2, 1984 at RAF Bruggen. The nuclear weapon fell off a truck because its container was not securely attached. The container that held the warhead fell to the ground and was dented. The warhead was examined by British scientists who had flown in using X-rays and no damage was found. The weapon had an explosive power eight times that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 ; it was returned to England and dismantled there. The six soldiers / employees responsible for the incident received a reprimand for their behavior in this accident.

1998–2001 - air raid role

After the reunification of Germany , the Royal Air Force announced that it would reduce its presence in Germany by half. An essential part of this plan was the reduction of the Tornado squadrons in Germany from seven to four squadron (No.17, NoIX, No.14, No.31 Squadron). Squadrons No.9, No.14 and No.31 participated in the Second Gulf War and were deployed from RAF Bruggen with the support of Vickers VC10 tankers during NATO air operations in the Kosovo War.

The decision to withdraw all RAF units from Germany was made in 1996. As a result of the British Strategic Defense Review that came into force in 1997 , the No. 17 Squadron dissolved on March 31, 1999 and the gradual withdrawal of troops from the base began. No. 14 Squadron was relocated to RAF Lossiemouth in January 2001 . A formal ceremony on June 15 officially ended the Royal Air Force's continued presence in Germany since World War II . By September 4, 2001, all remaining tornadoes had left RAF Bruggen for RAF Marham .

Units in RAF Brüggen

  • No. 9 Squadron RAF - Panavia Tornado weapon system GR.1, GR.4 (October 1, 1986 - July 2001)
  • No. 14 Squadron RAF - weapon system SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 / T.2, Panavia Tornado GR.4
  • No. 17 Squadron RAF - SEPECAT weapon system, Jaguar GR.1 / T.2, Panavia Tornado GR.1 (1985–1999)
  • No. 20 Squadron RAF - SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 / T.2 weapon system
  • No. 31 Squadron RAF - weapon system F-4 Phantom II FGR.2, SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1 / T.2, Panavia Tornado GR.1, Panavia Tornado GR.4
  • No. 80 Squadron RAF - English Electric Canberra PR.7 weapon system (until 1969)
  • No. 213 Squadron RAF - English Electric Canberra B (I) .6 weapon system (1957–1969)
  • No. 37 Squadron RAF Regiment - Rapier weapon system (missile)

Javelin Barracks

Since the Royal Air Force had no further use for RAF Brüggen, the base was handed over to the British Army on February 28, 2002 . The base Elmpt (Engl. Elmpt Station ) was renamed Javelin Barracks .

The 12 Flight of the Army Air Corps (AAC) was the last flying unit in Brüggen: Coming from RAF Wildenrath , it was on the ground from June 1992 to March 2009 with 4 Gazelle AH.1 helicopters and was disbanded at the end of March 2009.

Kerosene was discovered in the groundwater under one of five tank farms. By April 2013, 140,000 liters of it had been pumped out.

Elmpt was also the location of the 1st Signal Brigade of the Royal Corps of Signals . You were subordinate to the 7th Signal Regiment with the 229th , 231st and 232nd Signal Squadron , the 16th Signal Regiment with the Support Squadron and the 230th , 252nd and 255th Signal Squadron and the 628th Signal Troop .

Due to the complete withdrawal of the British Armed Forces from Germany , the Royal Signals was withdrawn and the barracks returned to Germany in early December 2015.

Usage today and in the future

After the withdrawal of the British, the barracks will probably serve as refugee accommodation or central accommodation facility, or ZUE for short, until 2022.

The entire area belongs to the Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks (Bima). The community of Niederkrüchten, the district of Viersen and the economic development agency for the district of Viersen (WFG) have jointly founded a company to create an approximately 150-hectare commercial and industrial area on the 882-hectare site.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. BGN - Airport . Retrieved May 2, 2010.
  2. Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  3. ^ Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen: US nuclear weapons in Europe, 1954-2004 . Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists . November / December 2004. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  4. GlobalSecurity.org British military confirms atomic bomb incident at base in Germany
  5. Timesonline.co.uk Britain drops nuclear bomb. Fortunately it doesn't go off
  6. Incident at RAF Brüggen - A Viewpoint (MoD) (PDF)
  7. ^ Rheinische Post / Grenzland-Kurier: Kerosene lake discovered in the groundwater
  8. RP online, December 15, 2015: 2500 refugees move to former British premises
  9. ege-elmpt.de , accessed on January 1, 2020.

Web links