History Peronne-St Quentin Airport

1 history

1.1 german use during world war ii
1.2 american use
1.3 postwar/nato use
1.4 return civil use

history

peronne airport pre-world war ii civil airport, consisting of terminal, hangar, support buildings , grass airfield, serving nearby city of saint-quentin.

german use during world war ii

it seized germans in june 1940 during part of battle of france, airport not used luftwaffe units several years. beginning in 1944, several luftwaffe anti-aircraft units, flak-regiment 87 , flak-regiment 19 based batteries of 8.8 cm (88mm) flak guns @ site.

in addition, germans laid down 2 1500m all-weather concrete runways @ airport, aligned 04/22 , 09/27. presumably due fortification of pas-de-calais, being believed germans when americans , british tried land in france open second front, airfield have key role in defense of france.

beginning in mid-june 1944, jagdgeschwader 5 (jg 5) assigned airfield, messerschmitt bf 109g day interceptor fighters. peronne, jg 5 began attacking usaaf eighth air force heavy bomber fleets attacking targets in occupied europe , germany. not attacked allied bombers, airport came under frequent attack ninth air force b-26 marauder medium bombers , p-47 thunderbolts 500-pound general-purpose bombs; unguided rockets , .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when eighth air force heavy bombers (b-17s, b-24s) within interception range of luftwaffe aircraft assigned base. attacks timed have maximum effect possible keep interceptors pinned down on ground , unable attack heavy bombers.

american use

397th bombardment group martin b-26b-55-ma marauder 42-96153 @ peronne advanced landing ground (alg) a-72, january 1945.

american ninth army units moved though area in september 1944, heading towards saint-quentin. on 5 september ix engineer command 862d engineer aviation battalion moved in , began quick rehabilitation of base used american aircraft. declared operationally ready ninth air force combat units on 6 september, few days after capture german forces, being designated advanced landing ground a-72 peronne airfield

in addition airfield, tents used billeting , support facilities; access road built existing road infrastructure; dump supplies, ammunition, , gasoline drums, along drinkable water , minimal electrical grid communications , station lighting. hosted following known ninth air force units:

474th fighter group, - september-1 october 1944 p-38 lightning
397th bombardment group, 6 october 1944 – 25 april 1945 b-26 marauder

when combat units moved out, peronne turned on air technical service command, becoming air depot , storage depot large numbers of surplus aircraft, units had returned united states via ship. peronne air base turned on french air ministry on 30 june 1945.

postwar/nato use

in french control after war, airport sat abandoned years. there unexploded ordnance @ site needed removed, wreckage of german , allied aircraft. of buildings @ base destroyed allied air attacks or demolition, , although had been repaired american combat engineers, in ruins. french air force had no interest in facility, , there no money available restore , rebuilt prewar airport. result, air ministry leased land, concrete runways, structures , all, out farmers agricultural use, sending in unexploded ordnance teams remove dangerous munitions.

in 1950 when result of cold war threat of soviet union, air base @ peronne offered united states air force french air ministry part of nato commitment establish modern air force base @ site. nato faced several problems when attempting solve air power survival equation. planning warsaw pact first strike survival in both conventional , nuclear wars had considered. main air bases built on small parcels of land limited dispersal space. decided use peronne emergency backup airfield, known saint quentin-estres air base, consisting of bare bones facility of runway minimal facilities intended use nato air forces disperse aircraft in case of war.

beginning 1954, french demolition companies returned peronne , began demolishing structures , removing wreckage of world war ii air base. french army explosive demolition teams brought in safely remove unexploded ordnance remaining war , site prepared construction. modern all-weather concrete nato jet runway laid down aligned 09/27 (east-west), taxiways , dispersal areas 3 fighter squadrons. dispersals designed in circular marguerite system of hardstands revetted later earth added aircraft protection. typically margueriete consisted of fifteen eighteen hardstands, each hardstand capable of parking 1 or 2 aircraft, allowing planes spaced approximately 150 feet (50 m) apart. each squadron assigned separate hangar/hardstand complex.

other occasional touch-and-go landing of nato (usaf) aircraft, peronne air base never used. french withdrawal integrated military component of nato in 1967, base abandoned.

return civil use

with abandonment of facility nato, airfield acquired local government , redeveloped commercial airport. marguerite dispersal hardstands torn , sold hardcore aggrigate, small part of 22 end of old wartime runway used parking ramp. new terminal erected , small hangar private aircraft.

today nato runway , taxiway used airport, runway has been shortened, half length active airport runway. wartime 04/22 still exists in deteriorated condition, unused. appears of enclosing taxiway have been turned agricultural roads.