Picauville Airfield
| Picauville Airfield Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-8
| |
|---|---|
Basse-Normandie Region, France
  Picauville Airfield Picauville Airfield (France)
| |
| Coordinates | 49°23′34″N 001°25′07″W / 49.39278°N 1.41861°W |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  United States Army Air Forces |
| Site history | |
| In use | June-September 1944 |
| Built by | IX Engineering Command |
| Materials | Prefabricated Hessian Surfacing (PHS) |
| Battles/wars | Western Front (World War II) Normandy Campaign Northern France Campaign |
Picauville Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Picauville in the Basse-Normandie region of northern France.
Located just outside of Picauville, the United States Army Air Force established a temporary airfield shortly after D-Day on 20 June 1944, shortly after the Allied landings in France The airfield was one of the first established in the liberated area of Normandy, being constructed by the IX Engineering Command, 826th Engineer Aviation Battalion.
History
Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-8", the airfield consisted of a single 5000' (1500m) Prefabricated Hessian Surfacing runway aligned 07/25. In addition, with tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.[1]
Combat units stationed at the airfield were the 405th Fighter Group, which based P-47 Thunderbolt fighters at Picauville from 30 June through 14 September 1944.[2]
The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of Normandy, patrolling roads in front of the beachhead; stafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops when spotted.
After the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies, the airfield was closed on 15 September 1944. Today, little or no physical evidence of its existence is visible.[3]
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- ↑ IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout
- ↑ Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- ↑ Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
