Advanced Landing Ground

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Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) was the term given to the temporary airfields constructed by the Allies in Normandy in the days following the D-Day landings in 1944. The ALGs enabled the relocation of tactical air support from England to Normandy, shortening the sortie turnaround time from the front lines.

Over thirty ALGs were constructed in Normandy after the beachhead was expanded. They were constructed rapidly by laying Sommerfeldt wire mesh, a concept similar to the Marston mats used in the Pacific Theater, directly on the ground. A fighter group would forward deploy to an ALG as soon as the enemy forces had been driven out of artillery range of that ALG.[1]

Later in the war, they were used less as air bases as better runways were captured.

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  1. ^ Henkels, John B. (October 1997). They Also Serve: An Armorer's Life in the ETO. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing Co., p. 163. ISBN 0-8059-3998-9.