Uetersen (GER) (53 39 00 N – 09 42 40 E)
General: airfield (Fliegerhorst) in Schleswig-Holstein 21 km NW of
Hamburg; airfield 5 km SSE of Uetersen.
History: dates from June 1933 as sports field for glider enthusiasts.
Taken over by the Luftwaffe in April 1935 and built out as a major
training airfield with the first aircraft flying in on 25 July 1936.
Established as a Lw. Fliegerhorstkommandantur by 1 October 1936
and base construction continued until 1939. Uetersen had a huge
Kaserne (barrack complex) and this was used for recruit training from
1935 on. But plans for a big flight training center were altered by the
outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 and Uetersen served mainly as
a month or two rest and re-equipment stop for operational flying units.
Dimensions: approx. 1000 x 1145 meters (1100 x 1250 yards) with
an irregular shape.
Surface and Runways: Grass surface with paved hangar apron and
paved taxiway. No paved runway. Equipped with flare path,
perimeter lighting, obstruction lighting and the short form of the visual
Lorenz system for night landings.
Fuel and Ammunition: refueling points on paved apron at the NE
corner of the landing area in front of hangars. One small ammunition
dump off the S boundary and another off the W boundary.
Infrastructure: had 1 large hangar, 1 large repair hangar and 2 small
hangars, all along the N boundary and all with paved aprons. The
station motor pool and garage was off the NE corner. A large group
of barrack buildings (Kaserne or barrack complex) was just N of the
hangars, and just to the E of these were the station HQ, officers' mess,
dining halls, and several additional barracks. The station sports
ground and dispensary were just W of the large group of barracks.
The control tower was between the two large hangars. The nearest
rail connection was in Uetersen to the NW of the airfield.
Dispersal: there were 4 dispersal areas: Northeast, South, Northwest
and West with a total of 20 large open aircraft shelters, 43 small open
aircraft shelters and 12 hardstands.
Defenses: protected by 1 or 2 heavy Flak positions and 5 light Flak
positions, all of the latter mounted in Flak towers.
Satellites and Decoy