Orconte is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Marne

Marne

Marne is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne...

 department in north-eastern France

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...

.

World War II

In September 1944, the United States Army Air Forces

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 established a temporary airfield 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...

, known as "A-66

Orconte Airfield

Orconte Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Orconte in the Marne department of northern France....

" near Orconte. 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....

 354th Fighter Group

354th Fighter Wing

The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces . It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force .-Overview:...

 flew P-51 Mustang

P-51 Mustang

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

s and 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 from the airfield from 15 September until 11 December 1944. The unit moved east with the advancing Allied armies and the airfield was dismantled with the land being returned to agricultural use.