Cambrai-Niergnies Airport
Encyclopedia
Cambrai-Niergnies Airport is a regional airport in France
, located 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southeast of Cambrai
; 100 miles (160.9 km) north-northeast of Paris
It supports general aviation
with no commercial airline service scheduled.
civil airport, consisting of a terminal, hangar, some support buildings and a grass airfield, serving the nearby city of Cambrai
.
. It was briefly used as a fighter airfield by Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) in late May, participating in the Blitzkrieg
against the French Army and British Expeditionary Force flying Messerschmitt Bf 109
Es..
After the battle, the airfield was not used by the Luftwaffe for several years. In 1943, the Germans laid down two 1600m all-weather concrete runways at the airport, aligned 15/33 and 09/27. Large numbers of aircraft dispersal pads, maintenance shops, hangars and other support facilities were also built. Presumably this was due to the fortification of the Pas-de-Calais, being believed by the Germans that when the Americans and British tried to land in France to open a Second Front, the airfield would have a key role in the defense of France. This construction drew the attention of the USAAF Ninth Air Force
, which attacked the airfield on 1st and 2d December 1943 with B-26 Marauder
medium bombers (322d, 387th Bombardment Groups), servery damaging the facility. The airfield was not used again by the Germans.
. On 10 September The IX Engineer Command 862d Engineer Aviation Battalion moved in and began a quick rehabilitation of the base so it could be used by American aircraft. The engineers filled bomb craters and laid Pierced Steel Planking over the damaged areas of the 15/33 runway, and patched the 08/26 runway with asphalt and tarmac. In addition to the airfield, 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. It was declared operationally ready for Ninth Air Force
combat units on 12 September, only a few days after its capture from German forces, being designated as Advanced Landing Ground
"A-74 Cambrai/Niergnies Airfield"
It hosted the following known Ninth Air Force
units:
When the combat units moved out, Niergnies was turned over to the French Air Ministry on 30 June 1945.
In 1950 when as a result of the Cold War
threat of the Soviet Union
, the air base at Cambrai-Niergnies was offered to the United States Air Force
by the French Air Ministry as part of their NATO commitment to establish a modern Air Force Base at the site. NATO faced several problems when attempting to solve the air power survival equation. Planning for a Warsaw Pact
first strike survival in both conventional and nuclear wars had to be considered. The main air bases were built on small parcels of land with very limited dispersal space. It was decided to use Cambrai-Niergnies as an emergency "backup" airfield, consisting of a "bare bones" facility of a runway with minimal facilities intended for use by all NATO air forces to disperse their aircraft in case of war.
Beginning about 1953, French demolition companies returned to Laon-Athies and began demolishing the German structures and removing the wreckage of the World War II air base. French Army Explosive demolition teams were brought in to safely remove unexploded ordinance remaining from the war and the site was prepared for construction. A modern all-weather concrete NATO jet runway was laid down aligned 17/35 over one of the former German runways, with alert pads for two fighter squadrons on each end of the runway. The extensive Luftwaffe dispersal pads and taxiways were also refurbished and integrated into the new base. Along the new NW/SE taxiway a circular marguerite system of hardstands which could be revetted later with earth for added aircraft protection was built. In addition, the wartime 08/26 runway had the wartime repairs removed and was totally refurbished, giving the airfield two operational runways. When completed, the base could accommodate about three or four squadrons of aircraft, 50 total.
However, other than the occasional touch-and-go landing of NATO (USAF) aircraft, Cambrai-Niergnies Air Base was never used. With the French withdrawal from the integrated military component of NATO in 1967, the base was abandoned.
The expensive NATO airfield still exists, complete with runways, taxiways and dispersals, deteriorating after 40 years of abandonment. Expansion joints in the concrete are starting to separate the various concrete pads, and a few of the dispersals have large amounts of vegetation growing on them, presumably though the cracks in the concrete. From the air, the airfield appears frozen in time, a complete, well-equipped Cold War air base which was never used.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, located 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southeast of Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
; 100 miles (160.9 km) north-northeast of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
It supports general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
with no commercial airline service scheduled.
History
Niergnies Airport was a pre-World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
civil airport, consisting of a terminal, hangar, some support buildings and a grass airfield, serving the nearby city of Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
.
German use during World War II
It was seized by the Germans in late May 1940 during the early part of the Battle of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
. It was briefly used as a fighter airfield by Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) in late May, participating in the Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
against the French Army and British Expeditionary Force flying Messerschmitt Bf 109
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
Es..
After the battle, the airfield was not used by the Luftwaffe for several years. In 1943, the Germans laid down two 1600m all-weather concrete runways at the airport, aligned 15/33 and 09/27. Large numbers of aircraft dispersal pads, maintenance shops, hangars and other support facilities were also built. Presumably this was due to the fortification of the Pas-de-Calais, being believed by the Germans that when the Americans and British tried to land in France to open a Second Front, the airfield would have a key role in the defense of France. This construction drew the attention of the USAAF Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
, which attacked the airfield on 1st and 2d December 1943 with B-26 Marauder
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
medium bombers (322d, 387th Bombardment Groups), servery damaging the facility. The airfield was not used again by the Germans.
American use
American Ninth Army units moved though the area in early September 1944, heading towards CambraiCambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
. On 10 September The IX Engineer Command 862d Engineer Aviation Battalion moved in and began a quick rehabilitation of the base so it could be used by American aircraft. The engineers filled bomb craters and laid Pierced Steel Planking over the damaged areas of the 15/33 runway, and patched the 08/26 runway with asphalt and tarmac. In addition to the airfield, 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. It was declared operationally ready for Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
combat units on 12 September, only a few days after its capture from German forces, being designated as Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
"A-74 Cambrai/Niergnies Airfield"
It hosted the following known Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
units:
- 48th Fighter Group, 15–30 September 1944 (P-47)
- 394th Bombardment Group394th Bombardment GroupThe 394th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Army Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the XII Fighter Command stationed at AAF Station Kitzingen, Germany. It was inactivated on 15 February 1946...
, 6 October 1944-2 May 1945 (B-26)
When the combat units moved out, Niergnies was turned over to the French Air Ministry on 30 June 1945.
Postwar/NATO use
In French control after the war, the base sat abandoned for several years. There was much unexploded ordinance at the site which needed to be removed, as well as the wreckage of German and American aircraft. Many of the buildings at the base were destroyed by the war, and although some had been repaired by the American combat engineers, most were in ruins. The French Air Force had no interest in the airfield and there was no money available to restore the commercial airport that existed before the war. As a result, the Air Ministry leased the land, concrete runways, structures and all, out to farmers for agricultural use, sending in unexploded ordnance teams to remove the dangerous munitions.In 1950 when as a result of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
threat of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, the air base at Cambrai-Niergnies was offered to the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
by the French Air Ministry as part of their NATO commitment to establish a modern Air Force Base at the site. NATO faced several problems when attempting to solve the air power survival equation. Planning for a Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
first strike survival in both conventional and nuclear wars had to be considered. The main air bases were built on small parcels of land with very limited dispersal space. It was decided to use Cambrai-Niergnies as an emergency "backup" airfield, consisting of a "bare bones" facility of a runway with minimal facilities intended for use by all NATO air forces to disperse their aircraft in case of war.
Beginning about 1953, French demolition companies returned to Laon-Athies and began demolishing the German structures and removing the wreckage of the World War II air base. French Army Explosive demolition teams were brought in to safely remove unexploded ordinance remaining from the war and the site was prepared for construction. A modern all-weather concrete NATO jet runway was laid down aligned 17/35 over one of the former German runways, with alert pads for two fighter squadrons on each end of the runway. The extensive Luftwaffe dispersal pads and taxiways were also refurbished and integrated into the new base. Along the new NW/SE taxiway a circular marguerite system of hardstands which could be revetted later with earth for added aircraft protection was built. In addition, the wartime 08/26 runway had the wartime repairs removed and was totally refurbished, giving the airfield two operational runways. When completed, the base could accommodate about three or four squadrons of aircraft, 50 total.
However, other than the occasional touch-and-go landing of NATO (USAF) aircraft, Cambrai-Niergnies Air Base was never used. With the French withdrawal from the integrated military component of NATO in 1967, the base was abandoned.
Civil use
With the NATO facility closed, the facility was turned over by the French Air Ministry to the local government. A small part of the large NATO air base has been converted into a civil airport, with about 3000' of the 5000' 08/26 secondary runway being maintained as the airport's runway. Parallel to the runway, a short grass runway has been built for glider use. An asphalt taxiway connects the runway to a small parking/ramp area sued by light aircraft, with what appears to be NATO-era buildings being used as support buildings for the airport and several hangars.The expensive NATO airfield still exists, complete with runways, taxiways and dispersals, deteriorating after 40 years of abandonment. Expansion joints in the concrete are starting to separate the various concrete pads, and a few of the dispersals have large amounts of vegetation growing on them, presumably though the cracks in the concrete. From the air, the airfield appears frozen in time, a complete, well-equipped Cold War air base which was never used.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground