Kitzingen Army Airfield
Encyclopedia
- For the civil airport use of this facility after 2007, see: Kitzingen AirportKitzingen AirportKitzingen Airport is a general aviation airport located in Germany, about 2 miles southwest of Kitzingen ; approximately 230 miles southwest of Berlin....
Harvey Barracks/Kitzingen Army Airfield is a former United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
1st Infantry Division (1st ID) facility in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, located about 2 miles east-northeast of Kitzingen
Kitzingen
Kitzingen is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants.Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer in Bavaria...
(Bavaria), about 240 miles southwest of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Formerly part of the United States Army Würzburg military community, it was a 1st ID garrison since 1996 and prior to that it was home to 3rd ID 2nd Brigade. Originally built in 1917, the installation served as a training school for German pilots in World War I. The German Luftwaffe used the base a generation later to train the pilots of dive bombers and pursuit planes during World War II. The Americans took control in April 1945 and used it as an air base until being turned over to the 1st ID in 1947.
It was closed on 29 March 2007 and turned over to the German Government as part of a USAREUR restructuring announced in 2005 which returns the 1st ID to the United States.
History
The airfield has its origins in World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when it served as a training school for Imperial German Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
) pilots. After the armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
in November 1918, the land was returned to farmers.
Beginning in 1933, the land again was used as an airfield, although under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
Germany was forbidden to have an air force, buildings and hangars were built around a grass airfield and the airfield was used as a flight training school, ostensibly for civilian Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
airline pilots.
Luftwaffe use
When the new German Air Force (LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
) was announced in 1935, the training school was became a military flight school to train military pilots for bomber and pursuit squadrons. Beginning in April 1936, Sturzkampfgeschwader 165 was activated at Fliegerhorst Kitzingen, and in 1939, Sturzkampffliegerschule Kitzingen as training organizations, primarily for Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
A "Stuka" dive bomber; Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
fighter-bomber and Dornier Do 17
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
light bomber pilots. Beginning in 1943, Night Fighter training was performed by Nachtjagdschule 1, using RADAR-equipped Messerschmitt Bf 110
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten...
; Dornier Do 215
Dornier Do 215
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Dressel, Joachim and Manfred Griehl. Bombers of the Luftwaffe. London: DAG Publications, 1994. ISBN 1-85409-140-9....
, and Dornier Do 217
Dornier Do 217
The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by German Luftwaffe during World War II as a more powerful version of the Dornier Do 17, known as the Fliegender Bleistift . Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber, its design was refined during 1939 and production began in late 1940...
aircraft in support of the Defense of the Reich
Defense of the Reich
The Defence of the Reich is the name given to the strategic defensive aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe over German occupied Europe and Germany itself during World War II. Its aim was to prevent the destruction of German military and civil industries by the Western Allies...
campaign.
As a result of the Western Allied invasion of Germany beginning in March, 1945, Kitzingen became an operational combat airfield when elements of Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) arrived, flying the new Messerschmitt Me 262
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe was the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but engine problems prevented the aircraft from attaining operational status with the Luftwaffe until mid-1944...
A jet interceptor fighter. The jet operations drew a significant amount of attention from Allied air forces, and as a result the USAAF Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
flew several B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber attacks on the airfield, and 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....
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 bomber attacks, along with fighter sweeps by P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s, to keep the German jets on the ground and limit their effectiveness.
The Luftwaffe abandoned Fliegerhorst Kitzingen about 11 April 1945, blowing up the runway, aircraft hangars and other technical buildings.
USAAF use
The airfield was seized by Allied ground forces in early April 1945, with the USAAF IX Engineering Command 819th Engineering Aviation Brigade moving in to clear mines; remove destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft and bring the airfield to an operational state for use by American aircraft. The airfield was declared operational on 15 April 1945, designated as Advanced Landing GroundAdvanced 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...
"R-6 Kitzingen". It was immediately put to use as a resupply and casualty evacuation airfield, with C-47 Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
transports moving in and out frequently with ammunition and other supplies; evacuating combat wounded back to the rear area. The 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....
405th Fighter Group was able to move in with P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s on 30 April, but the combat use of Kitzingen was brief, as the collapse of German resistance was in progress, and the war in Europe ending on 7 May.
German Prisoners of War were housed at the airfield, and put to work repairing the heavily damaged facilities; clearing the wreckage, and restoring services to the surrounding area, damaged by the bombing of the area in March and early April. The airfield became an occupation garrison by the Air Force, being designated as Army Air Force Station Kitzingen. The airfield was turned over to Air Technical Service Command, becoming the home of various engineering units, and the 10th Reconnaissance Group, which used Kitzingen as a base of operations, flying mapping and damage assessment photo-recon flights from the airfield during late 1945 and most of 1946.
United States Army use
The Air Force units moved out at the end of July 1947 and Army units moved in, using the facility as an occupation garrison. Beginning in 1949, with the formation of NATO and the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany, American army units remained in Kitzingen though a Status of Forces AgreementStatus of Forces Agreement
A status of forces agreement is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement...
. On 2 April 1951, Harvey Barracks obtained its name in honor of Captain James R. Harvey, Company E, 359th Infantry, who was killed during the invasion of Normandy, France. For his actions of extraordinary heroism, he was awarded the distinguished service cross posthumously.
Various 1st Infantry Division units have used Kitzingen Army Airfield/Harvey Barracks during the years 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...
, however major flight operations from the airfield ended in 1981 with the departure of the 3rd Combat Aviation Battalion to Giebelstadt AAF
Giebelstadt Army Airfield
Giebelstadt Army Airfield is a closed military airfield located in Germany southwest of Giebelstadt ; approximately 250 miles southwest of Berlin. It was turned over to the German government on 23 June 2006 and is now a general aviation airport....
.
The airfield only sporadically housed flying units during training exercises after 1981, being renamed Kitzingen Army Airfield Heliport. In August 2005 it was announced that the 1st Infantry Division was returning to the United States as part of a USAREUR restructuring, and that Harvey Barracks would be inactivating. The facility wound down operations over the next 24 months and was closed on 29 March 2007.
See also
- Advanced Landing Ground