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Tour-en-Bessin Airfield

Coordinates: 49°17′45″N 000°45′41″W / 49.29583°N 0.76139°W / 49.29583; -0.76139 (A-13 Tour-en-Bessin)
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Tour-en-Bessin Airfield
Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-13
Basse-Normandie Region, France
Ground personnel of the 406th Fighter Group refuel P-47 Thunderbolts, including (serial number 44-33057) at Tour-en-Bessin Airfield
Tour-en-Bessin Airfield is located in France
Tour-en-Bessin Airfield
Tour-en-Bessin Airfield
Coordinates49°17′45″N 000°45′41″W / 49.29583°N 0.76139°W / 49.29583; -0.76139 (A-13 Tour-en-Bessin)
TypeMilitary Airfield
Site information
Controlled by  United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built byIX Engineering Command
In useJuly–December 1944
MaterialsPrefabricated Hessian Surfacing (PHS)
Battles/wars
World War II - EAME Theater
  • Normandy Campaign
  • Northern France Campaign
Garrison information
Garrison  Ninth Air Force
Occupants
  • 373d Fighter Group
  • 406th Fighter Group
  • 394th Bombardment Group
Airfield information
Runways
Direction Length and surface
12/30 5,000 feet (1,520 m) SMT/PSP
01/19 5,000 feet (1,520 m) SMT/PSP
Two Runways, 4 alert pads, 50 hardstands[1]
Tour-en-Bessin Airfield, France, 373d Fighter Group Facilities August 1944 not far from the D-Day beaches

Tour-en-Bessin Airfield is a now-abandoned World War II military airfield near the commune of Tour-en-Bessin in the Normandy region of northern France.

The United States Army Air Force established a temporary airfield on 12 July 1944, shortly after the Allied landings in France. It was constructed by the IX Engineering Command, 833rd and 846th Engineer Aviation Battalions.

History

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Known as Advanced Landing Ground "A-13", the airfield consisted of a main 5000 foot long (1500 m) pierced steel planking (PSP) runway aligned 12/30 and a secondary 5000 foot PSP runway aligned 01/19. Tents were used for billeting and support facilities. An access road was built to the existing road infrastructure, as were a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a potable water and electrical power for communications and station lighting.[2]

The 373rd and 406th Fighter Groups flew P-47 Thunderbolts from Tour en Bessin. The fighters flew support missions during the Allied push into France, patrolling roads, strafing German military vehicles and bombing gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery, and concentrations of German troops in Normandy and Brittany. The B-26 Marauder 394th Bombardment Group also was assigned to the airfield.

After US forces moved east into central France with the advancing Allied armies, the airfield was used as a resupply and casualty evacuation airfield for several months, before being closed on 2 December 1944. The land returned to agricultural use.[3]

Major units assigned

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410th (R3), 411th (U9), 412th (V5) Fighter Squadrons (P-47)[4]
512th (L3), 513th (4P), 514th (O7) Fighter Squadrons (P-47)[4]
584th (K5), 585th (4T), 586th (H9), 587th (SW) Bombardment Squadrons (B-26)[4]

Current use

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Today there is little or no physical evidence of the airfield's existence, although the south end of the 01/19 runway is visible by the curvature of some fields, and some slight ground disturbance in a field to the east probably is from the 12/30 runway.[5]

A memorial to the men and units that were stationed at Tour-en-Bessin was placed on the D613 (former N13) between Vaucelles and Tour-en-Bessin.

References

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  1. ^ Tour-en-Bessin Airfield
  2. ^ IX Engineer Command ETO Airfields, Airfield Layout
  3. ^ Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
  4. ^ a b c Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  5. ^ Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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