Brienne-le-Château

48°25'00"N 004°32'50"E

Runway: flying field, 500x500m - grass

Brienne-le-Château airfield (aérodrome Brienne-le-Château) was an airfield 170 kilometer east-southeast of Paris.
It was a military airfield, serving the nearby munitions depot at Brienne-le-Château, which was opened on 27 July 1913 (see the postcard below). In a German flight publication it was listed as having a 500x500m flying field and a single hangar. It is hard to find information about the early years of airfield on line, but it is likely that it was used by the French Air Force until the invasion of France by Germany in 1940.

 

Opening of the millitary air station Brienne-le-Château in 1913 (source).


Slightly damaged 1938 photo of Brienne-le-Château airfield, recognisable by its locator circle just north of the railway emplacement that connects to the army munitions storage depot (geoportail.fr)


The airfield photo enlarged with its locator circle, boundary markings and the small hangar on the south side of the airfield (geoportail.fr)

The airfield was not used during World War II. After the war, it was abandoned by the French military, although its locator circle remained visible until at least 1948. The field has since been returned to agriculture. The only building still visible at the site is the hangar.


1948 aerial photo of the airfield and the munitions complex. Note that the locator circle is still vaguely visible, but the boundary markings are gone (geoportail.fr).


By 1953 only the hangar was left as a reminder that this was once an airfield (geoportail.fr).

The hangar was still standing next to the railway in 2005 (Google Earth)