Laon-Athies Air Base
Military airfield near Laon, France / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Laon-Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield, which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France.
Laon-Athies Air Base Villeneuve-Vertus Airfield Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) A-69 | |
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Picardy Region, France | |
Coordinates | 49°35′47″N 003°42′31″E |
Type | Military airfield |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force |
Site history | |
In use | September 1944-May 1945. 1950s-1960s |
Materials | Concrete |
Its history begins before World War II, when it was originally a grass civil airdrome. During the German occupation of France (1940–1944), the Luftwaffe developed the airdrome into a major military airfield, basing a variety of planes at the airfield, as well as using it as a maintenance and supply depot. Attacked frequently by Allied Air Forces, the Luftwaffe base was seized by Allied Ground Forces in September 1944 and was used as a Fighter and bomber base by the United States Army Air Forces until the end of the war.
Closed after the war, the airfield was rebuilt in the 1950s as a NATO Dispersed Operating Base for United States Air Force units in France to disperse their forces to in case of a war with the Warsaw Pact. The base was home to the 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing during the 60's and was abandoned by 1967.