Eschborn Airfield
Eschborn Airfield Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Y-51 Fliegerhorst Eschborn | |
---|---|
Hesse, Germany | |
Coordinates | 50°07′57″N 008°33′09″E / 50.13250°N 8.55250°E |
Type | Military airfield |
Site information | |
Condition | abandoned |
Site history | |
Built | 1940s |
Built by | Luftwaffe |
In use | 1943-1945 (Luftwaffe) Mar-July 1945 (USAAF) 1945-1992 United States Army |
Eschborn Airfield (Fliegerhorst Eschborn) is an abandoned military airfield in
The airfield was built by the
After the war the airfield became part of "Camp Eschborn", one of the United States Army facilities in the Frankfurt Area. It was closed in 1992 as part of the drawdown of American forces in Europe after the Cold War ended. Today the area is being redeveloped as an industrial site.
History
German use during World War II
Eschborn Airfield was built by the Luftwaffe about 1942 to provide air defense of the
Jagdgeschwader 106 (JG 106), a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A day interceptor fighter unit was assigned to the airfield in March 1943. In August 1943, JG 106 was moved to Mannheim and replaced by JG 27, a Messerschmitt Bf 109G unit that was being withdrawn from North Africa. JG 27 was based at Eschborn until September 1944. Other Luftwaffe day interceptor units assigned to Eschborn were JG 53 (March–May 1944); JG 301 (May–June 1944) and JG 2 (September 1944), flying mostly Bf 109Gs, or Fw 190As (JG 2).[1]
In response to the interceptor attacks on Eighth Air Force heavy bomber formations, Eschborn was attacked in 1944 by
USAAF use
On 7 April, Ninth Air Force
United States Army use
Under Army control in July 1945, for a while Eschborn became a Displaced Persons camp while Europe tried to sort out the masses of people forcefully removed from their home nations during the war. Also, Eschborn remained an
During the 1950s, as a part of the United States Army NATO facilities in the Frankfurt area, the airfield was closed and Eschborn Airfield became "Camp Eschborn", the home of Army Engineering units. Army forces remained at Eschborn for the next 40 years during the Cold War, being withdrawn in 1992 as part of the general American drawdown of forces in Germany.
Incidents
From May 1945 to October 1946 there were at least 6 aviation accidents at Eschborn Air Base. Among them was a Douglas DC-3/C-47A-20-DL transport aircraft (aircraft registration 42-23466) of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), which had an accident during take-off on 18 September 1945 and was damaged beyond repair.[5]
Abandoned
The facility has been basically abandoned since 1992, and today the ghostly relics of empty buildings, streets and other facilities used by the United States Army during its use for many decades of Eschborn remain. Parts of the former military base are being redeveloped for the Arboretum Main-Taunus and into a commercial area (Camp Phoenix-Park).[6] The airfield, not used since 1992, remains in part with an abandoned aircraft parking apron and a large Luftwaffe hangar, used for storage by the Army, but now a reminder of the wartime past of Eschborn as a combat airfield by both German and United States forces.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ The Luftwaffe, 1933-45
- ^ Derived from information in USAAF Film "Target For Today" (available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkGL7vuC2A4)
- ^ "IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout". Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ISBN 0-89201-092-4
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ^ "Camp Phönix-Park" (in German). Stadt Eschborn. Retrieved 31 October 2023.