RAF Laarbruch
Encyclopedia
The former Royal Air Force Station Laarbruch, more commonly known as RAF Laarbruch ICAO EDUL (from 1 January 1995 ETUL) was a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, located in Germany
on its border with the Netherlands
. The base's motto was Ein feste Burg
- "A Fortress Sure").
RAF Laarbruch was home to various first-line squadrons
, including II (AC) Squadron
flying F-4 Phantom II
; and 15
and 16 Squadrons
flying BAe Buccaneers
and 25 Squadron 'C' Flight with Bloodhound surface to air missiles in the 1970s
, followed by Jaguars
in the 1980s
. These were replaced by Tornadoes
with four squadrons (2, 15, 16,and 20
) resident.
After the first Gulf War
, many of the squadrons were relocated, No. 2 Sqn going back to RAF Marham
; and 15, 16, and 20 becoming reserve squadrons. When RAF Gütersloh
closed, the Harriers
of 3(F)
and IV(AC)
squadrons moved in along with the helicopters of 18(B) Squadron
. Laarbruch was also home to 1 and 26 Squadron RAF Regiment
. 18 Squadron returned to RAF Odiham
in 1997 with the remaining Harrier squadrons departing to RAF Cottesmore
in 1999.
After closing in 1999 the airfield found a new civilian lease of life as the budget airline
airport Flughafen Niederrhein (Lower Rhine Airport), now known as Airport Weeze
after the nearest large settlement. Civil operations began in May 2003.
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...
on its border with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The base's motto was Ein feste Burg
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" is the best known of Martin Luther's hymns. Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529. It has been translated into English at least seventy times and also into many other languages...
- "A Fortress Sure").
RAF Laarbruch was home to various first-line squadrons
Squadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...
, including II (AC) Squadron
No. 2 Squadron RAF
No. 2 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently one of two RAF squadrons operating in the reconnaissance role with the Tornado GR4A and GR4 and is based at RAF Marham, Norfolk.No. II Squadron holds claim to being "the oldest heavier-than-air flying machine squadron in the world", along with No...
flying F-4 Phantom II
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
; and 15
No. XV Squadron RAF
No. 15 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Panavia Tornado GR4 from RAF Lossiemouth. Currently XV Squadron is the RAF's Operational Conversion Unit for the Tornado GR4. The OCU teaches pilots how to fly the aircraft and what tactics to use to best exploit the performance of their...
and 16 Squadrons
No. 16 Squadron RAF
No. 16 Squadron is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. It formed in 1915 at Saint-Omer to carry out a mixture of offensive patrolling and reconnaissance and was disbanded in 1919 with the end of the First World War...
flying BAe Buccaneers
Blackburn Buccaneer
The Blackburn Buccaneer was a British low-level subsonic strike aircraft with nuclear weapon delivery capability serving with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force between 1962 and 1994, including service in the 1991 Gulf War...
and 25 Squadron 'C' Flight with Bloodhound surface to air missiles in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, followed by Jaguars
SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft, originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Armée de l'Air in the close air support and nuclear strike role, and still in service with several export customers, notably the Indian Air Force and the Royal Air Force...
in the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. These were replaced by Tornadoes
Panavia Tornado
The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
with four squadrons (2, 15, 16,and 20
No. 20 Squadron RAF
No. 20 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was until March 2010, the OCU for the BAE Harrier GR9, and T12, operating from RAF Wittering...
) resident.
After the first Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, many of the squadrons were relocated, No. 2 Sqn going back to RAF Marham
RAF Marham
Royal Air Force Station Marham, more commonly known as RAF Marham, is a Royal Air Force station; a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia....
; and 15, 16, and 20 becoming reserve squadrons. When RAF Gütersloh
RAF Gütersloh
The former Royal Air Force Station Gütersloh, more commonly known as RAF Gütersloh, was a Royal Air Force Germany military airbase, the nearest Royal Air Force airbase to the East/West German border, in the vicinity of the town of Gütersloh. It was constructed by the Germans prior to World War II...
closed, the Harriers
RAF Harrier II
The British Aerospace/McDonnell Douglas Harrier II is a second-generation vertical/short takeoff and landing jet aircraft used previously by the Royal Air Force and, between 2006–2010, the Royal Navy. Derived from the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, which was a development of the Hawker...
of 3(F)
No. 3 Squadron RAF
No 3 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Typhoon F2, FGR4 and T3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.No 3 Squadron, which celebrated its 95th anniversary over the weekend of 11-13 May 2007, is unique in the RAF for having two official crests....
and IV(AC)
No. IV Squadron RAF
No.4 Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operated the Harrier GR7, GR9 and T10 from RAF Wittering until January 2011.-Formation and First World War:...
squadrons moved in along with the helicopters of 18(B) Squadron
No. 18 Squadron RAF
No. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:...
. Laarbruch was also home to 1 and 26 Squadron RAF Regiment
RAF Regiment
The Royal Air Force Regiment is a specialist airfield defence corps founded by Royal Warrant in 1942. After a 32 week trainee gunner course, its members are trained and equipped to prevent a successful enemy attack in the first instance; minimise the damage caused by a successful attack; and...
. 18 Squadron returned to RAF Odiham
RAF Odiham
RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force station situated a little to the south of the historic small village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift helicopter, the Chinook HC2, HC2A and HC3...
in 1997 with the remaining Harrier squadrons departing to RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. The station housed all the operational Harrier GR9 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, and No 122 Expeditionary Air Wing...
in 1999.
After closing in 1999 the airfield found a new civilian lease of life as the budget airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
airport Flughafen Niederrhein (Lower Rhine Airport), now known as Airport Weeze
Airport Weeze
Weeze Airport or Niederrhein Airport is an airport situated southwest of the small municipality of Weeze in the Niederrhein of western Germany. It is northwest of Kevelaer, about southeast of Nijmegen, Netherlands, and northwest of Duisburg...
after the nearest large settlement. Civil operations began in May 2003.
Laarbruch squadrons
- No. 2 Squadron RAFNo. 2 Squadron RAFNo. 2 Squadron of the Royal Air Force is currently one of two RAF squadrons operating in the reconnaissance role with the Tornado GR4A and GR4 and is based at RAF Marham, Norfolk.No. II Squadron holds claim to being "the oldest heavier-than-air flying machine squadron in the world", along with No...
; flying Phantom FGR.2 up to 1976 and the SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1/T.2 from 1976 until the 1980s, then the Panavia Tornado GR.1A from the late eighties until the unit was re-located to RAF Marham in the late 1990s. - No. 3 Squadron RAFNo. 3 Squadron RAFNo 3 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Typhoon F2, FGR4 and T3 from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.No 3 Squadron, which celebrated its 95th anniversary over the weekend of 11-13 May 2007, is unique in the RAF for having two official crests....
; flying English Electric CanberraEnglish Electric CanberraThe English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
B(I)8 (68-72), then again from here from 1992 until 1999 with the BAe Harrier GR.5, then GR.7 until the unit was re-located to RAF Cottesmore in 1998. - No 4 Squadron RAF; flying the BAE Harrier GR.5, then the GR.7 version from 1992 until the unit was re-located to RAF Cottesmore in 1998.
- No. 15 Squadron RAF; flying the Blackburn Buccaneer S.2 from the 1970s until conversion to the Panavia Tornado GR.1 in 1983 until 1991.
- No. 16 Squadron RAFNo. 16 Squadron RAFNo. 16 Squadron is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force. It formed in 1915 at Saint-Omer to carry out a mixture of offensive patrolling and reconnaissance and was disbanded in 1919 with the end of the First World War...
; flying English Electric Canberra B(I)8 (58-72), Blackburn Buccaneer S.2(72-83) Panavia TornadoPanavia TornadoThe Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
GR1 (83-91) - No. 18 Squadron RAFNo. 18 Squadron RAFNo. 18 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham. No. 18 Squadron was the first and is currently the largest RAF operator of the Chinook.-First World War:...
; flying Boeing-Vertol Chinook HC.1 helicopters (92-97) - No. 20 Squadron RAFNo. 20 Squadron RAFNo. 20 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was until March 2010, the OCU for the BAE Harrier GR9, and T12, operating from RAF Wittering...
; flying Panavia Tornado GR.1 (84-92) - No. 31 Squadron RAFNo. 31 Squadron RAFNo. 31 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, known as the 'Goldstars', currently operates the Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham, Norfolk.-History:The squadron was formed at Farnborough on October 11, 1915. Its first deployment was to Risulpur, India with its BE2Cs and Farmans, and during this time it took...
; flying English Electric Canberra PR.7 - No. 69 Squadron RAFNo. 69 Squadron RAFThe name No. 69 Squadron has been used by the Royal Air Force for two quite different units.No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps was formed at Point Cook, Victoria, Australia on 19 September 1916. To avoid confusion with No. 3 Squadron, RAF, it was known to the British military as "No...
; flying English Electric Canberra PR.3 - No. 80 Squadron RAFNo. 80 Squadron RAFNo. 80 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1969. It was operative during both World War I and World War II.-Establishment and early service:...
; flying English Electric Canberra PR.7 - No. 1 Squadron RAF RegimentNo. 1 Squadron RAF RegimentNo. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment is a field squadron of the RAF Regiment in the Royal Air Force. Its mission is protection of RAF bases from ground attack. It is currently based at RAF Honington.- History :...
; - No. 26 Squadron RAF Regiment;
- Security Squadron RAF Police supplied on and off base security and Policing duties.
See also
- List of RAF stations
- List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
- List of aircraft of the RAF
- Airport WeezeAirport WeezeWeeze Airport or Niederrhein Airport is an airport situated southwest of the small municipality of Weeze in the Niederrhein of western Germany. It is northwest of Kevelaer, about southeast of Nijmegen, Netherlands, and northwest of Duisburg...