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Azeville Airfield
Azeville/Fontenay Airfield
Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-7
Patch9thusaaf

Basse-Normandie Region, France

Azeville Airfield is located in France
Red pog
Azeville Airfield
Azeville Airfield (France)
Coordinates 49°28′56″N 001°18′27″W / 49.48222°N 1.3075°W / 49.48222; -1.3075 (A-7 Azeville)
Type Military Airfield
Site information
Controlled by Us army air corps shield  United States Army Air Forces, 1944
Site history
Built by IX Engineering Command
In use June–September 1944
Materials Square-Mesh Track (SMT)
Battles/wars Western Front (World War II)
  Normandy Campaign
  Northern France Campaign

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

Located just outside of Azeville, the United States Army Air Force established a temporary airfield shortly after D-Day on 16 June 1944, shortly after the Allied landings in France The airfield was one of the first established in the liberated area of Normandy, being constructed by the IX Engineering Command, 819th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

History[]

The area was formerly home to a German gun battery, which consisted of four captured French 105mm guns. 49°29′05″N 001°18′59″W / 49.48472°N 1.31639°W / 49.48472; -1.31639 The battery was captured on 9 June 1944 by the U.S. 22nd Infantry Regiment (4th Division) moving inland from Utah Beach.

A-7 ALG Azeville Airfield

Map of USAAF Advanced Landing Ground A-7 Azeville Airfield, France

Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-7", the airfield consisted of a single 5000' (1500m) Square-Mesh Track runway aligned 08/26. In addition, with 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.[1]

Combat units stationed at the airfield were the 365th Fighter Group, which based P-47 Thunderbolt fighters at Azeville from 28 June through 15 August 1944, and the 363d Fighter Group, which based P-51 Mustang fighters at the airfield during August and September 1944.[2]

The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of Normandy, patrolling roads in front of the beachhead; stafing 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 15 September 1944. Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields.[3]

References[]

PD-icon This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout
  2. Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  3. 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[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Azeville Airfield and the edit history here.
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