Airport in Bretigny, France
Bretigny-sur-Orge Air Base
(
French
:
Base aerienne 217 Bretigny-Sur-Orge
) (
ICAO
:
LFPY
) is a former
French Air Force
French
:
Armee de l'Air
(ALA) base. The base is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of
Bretigny-sur-Orge
; about 17 miles (27 km) south of
Paris
.
Units
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]
- Integrated structure of maintenance in operational condition of the aeronautical materials of defense.
- Logistic service of the police station of air (SELOCA).
- Squadron Syderec (OVIA).
- Support of OIA (SOCRATE) and OVIA (SIMMAD, BEAD, SYDEREC)
Aircraft
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The base has no permanent aircraft assigned, however runway and turnaround service is available for transient aircraft.
History
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Bretigny Air Base was built prior to
World War II
as a
French Air Force
facility.
German use during World War II
[
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]
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the
Battle of France
, Bretigny was used as a
Luftwaffe
military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):
[1]
[2]
- Kampfgeschwader 51 (KG 51) 3 November 1940 ? 30 March 1941
Junkers Ju 88
A (Fuselage Code: 9K+)
- Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) 14 April-26 May 1941
Junkers Ju 88
A (Fuselage Code: B3+)
- Kampfgeschwader 30
(KG 30) 8 June 1941-January 1942
Junkers Ju 88
A (Fuselage Code: 4D+)
- Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6) (Fuselage Code: 3E+)
- August 1942-20 March 1944
Junkers Ju 88
A
- 20 March-14 June 1944
Junkers Ju 188
A/E
- 10 July-1 September 1944
Junkers Ju 88
A,
Junkers Ju 188
E
- 14 July-1 September 1944
Junkers Ju 88
A
KG 51, KG 54 and KG 30 all took part in night bombing raids over England; KG6 also to a lesser degree as fuel shortages began restricting night bomber missions; JG 1 was a day interceptor unit against
Eighth Air Force
heavy bombers.
It was attacked on several occasions by heavy bombers of both the
United States Army Air Force
Eighth Air Force
during 1943 and early 1944.
[3]
[4]
American use
[
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It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 27 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the USAAF IX Engineering Command 825th Engineer Aviation Battalion began clearing the base of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft; filling bomb craters in both runways with rubble and a
Pierced Steel Planking
patch along with repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. Subsequently, Bretigny became a USAAF
Ninth Air Force
combat airfield, designated as "A-48" about 29 August, only a few days after its capture from German forces.
[5]
Almost immediately, the repaired base became home to numerous combat units.
[6]
The Americans returned control of the base to the French Air Force in August 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield.
[7]
Post WW2
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]
After the war, the base was completely rebuilt, with a new 9000' (3000m) jet runway laid down parallel to the wartime 05/23 main. The wartime runway was reduced in width, resurfaced with asphalt and reused as a taxiway. The secondary 11/29 was also refurbished, however it was closed for the past few years. Aerial photography of the base shows it recently marked with an excellent concrete surface. New hangars and support facilities were built along with a new support area.
The base was a modern, fully equipped
NATO
base.
Current
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The base was decommissioned from military usage in 2012
See also
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References
[
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]
This article incorporates
public domain material
from the
Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^
The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
- ^
Identification codes of units of the Luftwaffe 1939 - 1945
- ^
USAFHRA Document 00107211
- ^
USAFHRA Document 00046437
- ^
"IX Engineering Command ETO Airfields General Construction Information"
. Archived from
the original
on 2019-06-30
. Retrieved
2009-09-23
.
- ^
Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983.
ISBN
0-89201-092-4
.
- ^
Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
External links
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