Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Cricqueville Airfield
Summary
Cricqueville en Bessin Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Cricqueville-en-Bessin in the Normandy region of northern France.
Located just outside Cricqueville-en-Bessin, the United States Army Air Force established a temporary airfield shortly after D-Day on 10 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 Engineer Command, 820th Engineer Aviation Battalion.
Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-2", the airfield consisted of a single 5000' (1500m) Square-Mesh Track/Compressed Earth runway aligned 17/35. 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.
The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of Normandy, patrolling roads in front of the beachhead; strafing German military vehicles and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops in Normandy and Brittany when spotted.
After the Americans moved east into Central France with the advancing Allied Armies, the airfield was left un-garrisoned and used for resupply and casualty evacuation. It was closed on 15 September 1944.
354th Fighter Group 22 June-13 August 1944
353d (FT), 355th (GQ), 356th (AJ) Fighter Squadrons (P-51B)
367th Fighter Group 14 August-4 September 1944
392d (HS), 393d (8L), 394th (4N) Fighter Squadrons (P-38)
After its closure by the Americans, the airfield was dismantled in September 1944 and the land returned to agricultural use. Today there is little or no physical evidence of its existence or its location.
A memorial to the men and units that were stationed at Cricqueville was placed at the site of the former airfield.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.