Cretteville Airfield

Cretteville Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Cretteville in  the Basse-Normandie region of northern France.

Located to the southeast of Cretteville, the United States Army Air Force established a temporary airfield on 23 July 1944, shortly after the Allied landings in France The airfield was constructed by the IX Engineering Command, 819th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

History
Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-14", the airfield consisted of a single 5000' (1500m) Prefabricated Hessian Surfacing runway aligned 04/22. In addition, tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.

The 358th Fighter Group, based P-47 Thunderbolt fighters at Lignerolles from 3 July through 14 August 1944. They were replaced on 17 August by the 406th Fighter Group, also flying P-47s, until 4 September 1944.

The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of Normandy, patrolling roads in front of the beachhead; strafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops in Normandy and Brittany when spotted.

After the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies, the airfield was closed on 5 September 1944. Today the airfield is a mixture of grass meadows, agricultural fields and what appears to be a racetrack to the southeast of Cretteville. The outline of the wartime airfield is very evident by the shape of the fields and meadows.