Bombing mission over Fligerhorst

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I was based at Fliegerhorst Luftwaff air base from 1960 to 63' and have been researching the base history, it was bombed Dec 12th 1944 and I have a picture of a B-24 Liberator being shot down over the main gate.

Any information would be greately appreciated.

Frank Whalen 1st of the 39th Art. 1960-1963

 

[HoHun]

Hi Frank,

>I was based at Fliegerhorst Luftwaff air base from 1960 to 63' and have been researching the base history, it was bombed Dec 12th 1944 and I have a picture of a B-24 Liberator being shot down over the main gate.

Welcome to the forum! Do you have any additional information on the location of the air base, like names of neighbouring towns etc.? "Fliegerhorst" means "air base" in German, and while in everyday language it can be used without additional place name if everyone knows which airbase is meant, it's not a name by itself.

If the base was bombed in 1944, obviously it was an old Luftwaffe base. They certainly were bombed heavily durin the war! Did it serve as a Luftwaffe base in the 1960s too, or had the USAF moved in instead?

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[HoHun]

Hi Frank,

You mentioned Hanau in the other thread, so I think this might be the base you're thinking of (left column, bottom paragraph, mentions artillery too):

http://www.hanau.army.mil/HanauWeb/20_about/images/Hanau_History_Page_2.jpg

From the sound of it, "Fliegerhorst Kaserne" has been adopted by the US forces as name for the installation, which would be a perfect fit for your description. (And prove my above post wrong at the same time

Here is a link to the USAAF chronology for December 1944:

USAAF Chronology:

Hanau is mentioned as 8th Air Force target:

"378 B-24s are sent to hit the Hanau (270) and Aschaffenburg (69)
marshalling yards; 17 hit the secondary, Gelnhausen and 8 hit a last resort
target, the marshalling yard at Friedburg; 3 B-24s are lost and 45 damaged;
11 airmen are KIA and 20 MIA. Escorting are 193 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is
damaged beyond repair."

I hope that is of some use to you, though the participating units unfortunately are not mentioned here.

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yes that is what they named the US Army Airfield in Hanau after the war.

I will see what I can find on Fliegerhorst Army Airfield in Hanau. I used to fly into Fliegerhorst quite a bit. I crewed helicopters out of Ansbach and we would do missions up to Hanau.

I might be able to dig up some info at the Airfield here.

 

[ccheese]

Hi Frank.... can't help you with the history, but I do welcome you to the forum.

Charles