Audembert

50°51'40"N 001°40'33"E

Runway: flying field - grass

Audembert air field (french: Aèrodrome de Audembert) was a German airfield 230 kilometers north of Paris.
It was a Feldflugplatz (wartime airfield) of the Luftwaffe during World War II, but it probably existed already before the outbreack of World War II. It was located close to a mile from the English Channel. Due to its location it was the closest airfield to England, and therefore one of the most important fighter airfields during the Battle of Britain. In the summer of 1940 the airfield was used by I./JG26 'Schlageter', flying Bf109Fs. Jagdgeschwader 26 'Schlageter' was the unit of Adolf Gallant, a German fighter ace, who later that year was promoted to command the entire Jagdgeschwader. After the Battle of Britain the airfield remained a Luftwaffe unit.

Adolf Gallands personal Bf-109 at Audembert in 1940 (source).
 
The field consisted of a single surfaced runway, some taxi tracks and hangars. The Luftwaffe continued to use the airfield until the Normandy invasion in 1944.
After the area was taken over by the Allies in 1944 however, it was returned to farmland. Some parts remain however, and can still be recognised from aerial photography. Most obvious is the taxitrack on the west side of the airfield, now leading to a farm. More subtle are the farm that housed JG26s wartime HQ to the north of the taxitrack. To the west of that farm some remnants of hangars can be found. South of the track lies another hangar ara, with foundations easily visible. More photography of the area can be viewed at Anciens-Aerodromes.org.


The location of the airfield in the summer of 2003. The taxitrack is the most obvious reminder of the former airfield (Google Earth)