Former Ahlhorn Airbase.

Germany / Niedersachsen / Grossenkneten /
 air force base, invisible, closed / former military
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Built 1915 as airship base for the German Navy. An accidental explosion (ire at the hydrogen gas depot) devasted large parts of it, killed 15 and wounded 134. All five airships based here lost. Air operations resumed four months later till the end of the war.

1920 the base returned to civil use until 1938 when the Luftwaffe took over and built and airfield with three landing strips in the classical WW II triangle shape. Hangars and parking area were north of the field, still visible in the (also classical for German airfields) arc shape. Assorted Kampf- and Jagdgeschwader were based here. A heavy British bombardment close to the end of the war ended all air operations.

After the war the British Army used the area as vehicle depot till 1951 when the British Airforce took over and expandet the base. The northern airstrip was lengthened for jet driven aircraft, the eastern removed and the south-western widened as parking/staging area.

1958 the base was handed over to the Luftwaffe, which based JG 71 "Richthofen" here (F86 Sabre). 1962 the airstrip was lengthed again to its current length (2100m), but JG 71 moved out one year later since the base was still to small for its new F104G aircraft. From 1963-1971 LTG 62 was based here, flying Nord 2501 transport aircraft.

(more history...)

Since 1993 no flying units were base here, 2006 all military usage ended.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   52°53'11"N   8°13'53"E

Comments

  • 76,000 solar panels totaling 17.5 MW were added onto 32 acres of land near the runway from 2011 to 2012. http://www.nwzonline.de/Region/Kreis/Oldenburg/Grossenkneten/Artikel/2689972/Solarpark-auf-dem-Flugplatz-in-Planung.html
  • I was one of the first us army guys there in ahlhorn 1963/ our baricks was not completed so we had to eat with the german guys/ loved it/ cold/ I was there till 1965 when I went home/ but I hated to leave the guys/ if any of the guys see this my face book is stan Kendrick/e mail [nats2gulftel.com]
This article was last modified 8 years ago