Valence airfield

[Andy Mitchell]

Guys,

Larry, Remi, and Nick - many thanks for your insights and information this helps greatly in trying to understand some of these decript summaries.

Nick - thanks for that. I have now found reference to Valence la Trésorerie in the following page http://natureonline.com/37/55-ap3-timeline.html - look for the entry of 8-15-44.

Remi - thank you for the additional information regarding Valence.

Larry - so much information, many thanks for the detail on the Flugplatzkommando and its controlling Fliegerhorstkommandantur.

[Andy Mitchell]

Here is another link to the Service Timeline of James J. MacIsaac RCAF - http://natureonline.com/37/15-op5.html - this relates specifically to the attack on Valence la Trésorerie. On reading this it appears that the attack was somewhat inaccurate.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Andy Mitchell

Here is another link to the Service Timeline of James J. MacIsaac RCAF - http://natureonline.com/37/15-op5.html - this relates specifically to the attack on Valence la Trésorerie. On reading this it appears that the attack was somewhat inaccurate.

And from my account of Operation Dragoon (which is desperately in need of an update):

"[On 15 August 1944] Damage to Valence aerodrome further inhibited the bomber force and Fl.Div. 2 was informed that three KG 26 illuminators had landed as far afield as Strasbourg-Enzheim and Freiburg owing to the unserviceability of airfields to which they had been transferred pending repairs to Valence …

[On the 17th] Photographs taken by the Allies of Valence-La Trésorerie suggested that "several Ju 88s" had been destroyed by bombing."

There's a lot of other references too.

[Larry deZeng]

Miscellaneous Postscript:

In June 1944, the main body of le.Flak-Abt. 741 (mot) was at Montpellier under Flak-Rgt. 85 (5. Flakbrigade), so the elements at Valence were probably no more than a single battery, and probably not even that. The Abteilung only had a total of 3 batteries. The Kommandeur was Obstlt. Hans Wulff in June 1944.

Another unit there was Flak-Mast 2/WF.

I have an 11p. Air Ministry periodic report from June 1944 entitled, Targets: Training, Headquarters, Parks, and Depots in the West, classified Top Secret that identifies about 250 locations with one or more of these installations in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. Valence is not listed. That doesn’t mean there was nothing there, but rather that there wasn’t much there.

[Andy Mitchell]

Nick/Larry,

Many thanks for the additional information.