Bedenac-Bussac

45°11'41"N 000°20'53"W

Runway: 10/02 - 1600x50m - grass
Runway: 14/32 - 1100x45m - grass

Platform Bedenac-Bussac was an airfield 450 kilometers south-southwest of Paris.
It first appeared in aeronautical publications in June 1926 as an emergency landing field for the airfield of Landes Bussac. It had a simple square platform of 600x600m. In 1937, it officially became the airfield Bedenac-Bussac with an area of about 160 hectares. By 1939 the whole area had been expanded into a 160 hectare terrain complete with proper drainage.

 During World War 2, the Germans built a taxi track around the airfield and added dispersals. Being targeted by Alllied bombers, the airfield escaped complete destrution as the Germans did not have the time to blow up its facilities.


Aerial picture of the airfield taken the 18 january 1944. (fold3.com)

In November 1946, the airfield was reinstated by the Armée de l'Air. Also it was to function as a aerial transport and general aviation airfield. Bedenac-Bussac airfield was opened to all traffic on 6 February 1947.
Although the airfield was daily used by touristic aviation and gliders, the US military requested the use of the airfield for non aviation related purposes as an extension of its lines of communication to and from Bordeaux. A request for a replacement airfield was ignored by the then Minister of Transport. He did however immediately prohibit the use of the airfield "until further notice". The US Army immediately began to build barracks and a storage facility at the airfield. In doing so, they damaged the drainage system to such an extent that is was easier to create a new airfield. In 1953, the decision was made to build Bordeaux-Saucats airfield.
In 1954, the 562nd QM Co from USA was stationned in Bussac.


POL Section of Bussac QM Depot (Tom Sweeney, via usarmygermany.com)


Members of the 562nd fill hundreds of jerry cans. (Tom Sweeney, via usarmygermany.com)




POL dump. (Tom Sweeney, via usarmygermany.com)


55 gallons drums are filled with JP-3 fuel. (Tom Sweeney, via usarmygermany.com)


Composite photo of the  airfield in 1959. (Reconstruction by Olivier for forgottenaifields.com using IGN sources via geoportail.fr)

After the Americans left Bussac in the 1960s, any aerial activity at the former airfield was prohibited. and it did not reopen. Today, aerial views show no trace of the two ancient runways. 


In 1974, the field appears completely dismantled. (geoportail.fr)


The airfield in 2006. (Google Earth)

Thank you very much to Walter Elkins of www.usarmygermany.com (Dearborn, Michigan) for allowing the pictures to be republished.