The 22nd Air Base (Polish: 22. Baza Lotnicza) is an Air Force Base east of Malbork, Poland, near the village of Królewo Malborskie. It was officially constituted on 1 January 2001, replacing the disbanded 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment. The main unit based there is the 41st Air Tactical Squadron flying MiG-29 fighters.
| Marienburg Focke-Wulf factory | |
|---|---|
| Part of Nazi Germany | |
B-17s destroyed all but one of the buildings at the Marienburg Focke-Wulf factory on October 9, 1943.[1]:280 |
|
| Battles/wars | Operation Pointblank (WWII) |
| External images | |
|---|---|
| strike and recon images | |
The Marienburg, Germany, area had a 1929 civilian airfield near Königsdorf that was acquired by the Luftwaffe in 1934.[2] Near the airfield was a 100-acre (0.40 km2) Focke-Wulf plant that had been moved from Bremen and which produced approximately half of all Focke-Wulf Fw 190s,[3] and the Stalag XX-B POW camp was nearby.[1] A US Eighth Air Force air raid of the on October 9, 1943, by 96 B-17 Flying Fortresses[4] was called the Marienburg raid by Life magazine.[5] The plant was attacked a 2nd time by 98 B-17s on April 9, 1944.[4]
Post-war, Marienburg, Germany, became Malbork, Poland; and Soviet Air force units were based there for a few years. In 1952 the 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment was formed to be based there, initially equipped with Mig-15 fighters, later replaced with Mig-17s, and from 1964 Mig-21s.[6] In 2001 the regiment was dissolved and its ground and air components separated, to form the 22 Air Base and 41st Air Tactical Squadron respectively. In 2003 the last Mig-21s were retired, and in 2004 the squadron was rearmed with refurbished Mig-29s obtained from Germany.