Bases used by Aufkl.Gr.(H)21 during French Campaign

[Mikael Olrog]

Hello,

I'm trying to identify airfields from which Aufkl.Gr.(H)21 Hs 126 aircraft operated during the French Campaign or immediately after, i.e. during 1940. Is Neufchâteau an option?

Michael Holm's ww2.dk lists no French airfield, only Bergen-op-Zoom in Belgium in October 1940. But there is a gap from May to October so may be the unit spent some time in France before going there?

Best regards
/Mike

[Larry deZeng]

Mike -

Only 1.(H), 2.(H), 3.(H) and 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr. 21 existed at the time of the 1940 campaign in the West. I only have locations for 4.(H)/21 and Neufchâteau is not mentioned.

As you know, during offensive campaigns these Heeres-Aufkl. units supported Panzer and motorized divisions and corps and for the most part operated from improvised fields and pastures rather than from established airfields. They changed locations every couple of days as the units they supported moved forward. Accordingly, it is quite difficult to find mention of their basings in documents so it is necessary to try and find flight logs to fill this gap. Perhaps someone else here has 1940 flight logs for 1.(H), 2.(H) and 3.(H)/21?

L.

[Mikael Olrog]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for your reply! Yes I know that a short range reconnaissance unit like this would hop from field to field. Attached is a photo that shows that it must have been some sort of airfield rather than "any" field. There's a Ju 52 as well present in another view. In the distance, to the left of the hangar, I think there is a Ju 88 judging by the shape of the fin and that sleek fuselage. The fuselage code of the Hs 126 appear to be P2+??.

But I guess it could be just about anywhere!

Best regards
/Mike

[Larry deZeng]

I agree, Mike. That's an established airfield with a nice hangar and some other buildings to the right of it. It looks like there is a downward sloping roll out in front of the hangar and that is distinctive enough to hopefully allow someone here to identify it.

Larry

[Rémi Baudru]

Hi,

I am only 90% sure of my answer, but for me, the hangar, buldings and the landscape looks like that of the airfield of Tournes-Belval, 5 kilometers west of Charleville-Mézières in France (département des Ardennes).

Best regards from France.

Rémi

[Larry deZeng]

As R.B. says, it might be.


Charleville (FR) (a.k.a. Charleville-Mézières, Belval, Tournes-Belval) (49 48 02 N – 04 38 46 E)
General: landing ground in E France 75 km NE of Reims; airfield 6.5 km NW of Charleville and 1.6 km NE of the village of Belval. History: an old French airfield that was used by the Luftwaffe during the May-June 1940 campaign but very little after that until summer 1944. Surface and Dimensions: good grass surface measuring approx. 1100 x 915 meters (1200 x 1000 yards) and roughly rectangular in shape. No paved runway. Fuel and Ammunition: there was a refueling point on the W boundary. On the W boundary were 3 small huts protected by blast walls and these were probably used for ammunition storage. Infrastructure: had 1 small hangar and 2 small workshops on the W boundary, and these were heavily camouflaged with netting. Limited barrack accommodations were at the NW corner. The Charleville rail line ran along the N boundary. Dispersal: no organized dispersal facilities. Defenses: none identified.
Satellites and Decoys:
Belval – Ham-les-Moines (c. 49 47 50 N – 04 34 42 E), dummy 5.25 km WNW of Charleville landing ground.
Remarks:
11 May 44: bombed by 9th AAF medium bombers.
Operational Units: 2.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 123 (May 40); I./JG 1 (May 40); Stab, I./JG 27 (May 40); I./JG 52 (May 40); Stab/JG 53 (May 40); II./JG 53 (May-Jun 40); I./ZG 52 (May-Jun 40); I./JG 76 (May-Jun 40); 2.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. Ob.d.L. (May-Jun 40); Stab/Fliegerzielgeschwader 2 (Feb-Apr 44)?; Stab, 1., 3./NAGr. 13 (Aug 44); 4.(F)/Aufkl.Gr. 123 (Aug 44).
Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. E 23/XI (1940-41)?; Fl.Pl.Kdo. C 82/XI (Jan 43 – Mar 44); Flugplatzkdo. Charleville of Fl.H.Kdtr. E(v) 228/XI Laon-Athies (Apr-Aug 44); Fl.H.Kdtr. E(v) 234/XI (Sep 44).
Station Units (on various dates and includes the town of Charleville – not complete): Koflug Charleville (later Koflug 7/VI) (Jun 40 – Jan 41); Flugmelde-Funk-Kp. z.b.V. 32 (mid-43 – Nov 43); III./Ln.-Ausb.Rgt. 301 (c.mid-43 – Aug 44); Stab/Ln.-Ausb.Rgt. 302 (summer 42 – Mar 43).
[Sources: AFHRA A5260 p.1731 (5 May 44); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA; PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]

L.

[Mikael Olrog]

Rémi & Larry,

Many thanks for your reply. Very helpfull!

Working a bit with Google earth i can confirm that there should be a good match. (Amazing what can be done with this tool!)

https://www.google.se/maps/place/Bel...9a3f7d40?hl=en

Apparently there is still an airfield and the hangar is there (same or new) and additional buildings.

Larry, Amazing work you've done on collecting and catalouging the information related to the airfield. If you have the ambition to publish a book with that type of information I would love to get a copy!

Best regards
/Mikael

[Larry deZeng]

Mike wrote in part:

Larry, Amazing work you've done on collecting and catalouging the information related to the airfield. If you have the ambition to publish a book with that type of information I would love to get a copy!

Thanks, Mike! There isn't enough interest to warrant the 3 volumes it would take if published, so the plan is to put them up on a web site that everyone is already familiar with but that I will not identify at the moment. When? I will do it incrementally by country (c. 24 of them) beginning in 6 to 12 months.

Larry

[Mikael Olrog]

Exciting news Larry! Have the admit that I thought about the possibility of having it as an online resource could be more usefull since it would enable the material to be continously updated and expanded.

[jvmasset]

I would also be tremendously interested Larry (especially if France is not too far away!).

To come back to that airfield photo I am terribly sorry to say that it is NOT Tournes-Belval/Charleville-Mézières...No such installations existed in 1940, there was only a very small hangar (more of a shed actually), some fuel cisterns and the odd earthen revetment and that's it (as can be seen on the very good 1940 aerial available on the IGN Géoportail website).

The hunt is on again!

JVM