Münster-Handorf

51°59'18"N 007°43'55"E

Air field Münster-Handorf (german: Flugplatz Münster-Handorf, later Fliegerhorst Münster-Handorf) was an airfield about 5 miles northeast of Münster in Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany
The airfield was intended as a replacement airfield for the airfield Münster Loddenheide, which was rapidly becoming too small in 1934.
Construction of the airfield by the Flughafen-GmbH Münster-Handorf company began in 1935.
The airfield was inaugurated in september 1936, although construction continued until 1 April 1937.
On 4 April 1937 the line Münster-Berlin was inaugurated.
The airfield constisted of two areas: a large military area on the northwestern side near Handorf, and a smaller civilian area on the southeastern side.
The Fliegerhorst area became operational in 1938 when a reconnaissance unit flying He45/46 aircraft flew into the air base.
They were followed by JG27 (Bf109) in 1939 and I./KG "Boelke" between February and late May 1940.
Along with units of KG54 "Totenkopf" and KG1 "Hindenburg" they were used in operations against the Netherlands and later England.





Map of airfield Münster-Handorf in 1938 (fliegerhorste.de)


When the war moved to France and England the airfield became an airfield for R&R and re-equipment.
Several units moved in and out of the airfield for short periods of time until 1943
At the same time the airfield was reconstructed and expanded.
The grass landing strips were replaced with 3 concrete runways.
To make room for the runways and extra parking space the civilian air terminal was taken down, even though it had been built only a few years before.
By March 1942 at the latest nothing remained of the civilian airfield.





Map of airfield Münster-Handorf in 1942 (fliegerhorste.de)

Training Wing (german: Lehrgeschwader) 1, flying Ju88A aircraft stayed at the airfield from June 1943 until the end of the year.
When bomber atacks by the Allied intensified during 1943 the Fliegerhorst was assigned to the defense of the homeland, so III./KG3 (Ju88) moved in along with units of II.KG2 (Ju188).
From 1944 they were replaced by Night Fighter Wings (Nachtjagdgeschwaders) I./NJG7, IV./NJG2 and from September 1944 I./NJG1 (Heinkel 219) until April 1945
Day interceptor unit JG54 (Fw190A) and Attack unit KG (Kampfgeschwader) 76 were also deployed to the field, although the latter may not have flown due to fuel shortages.
In September 1944 KG2 flew Do217/V-1 missions from the field until they redeployed to the Netherlands to be closer to their targets.
The presence of the Fw190s and the Do217/V-1 combination drew the attention of USAAF 8th Air Force, who launched 10 major attacks on the airfield between december 1943 and March 1945.
Additionally it drew attacks from 9th Air Force when the airfield came in reach of B-26 Marauders and P-47 Thunderbolts stationed in France.
These tactical units would attack the airfield with unguided rockets and 500 pound bombs whenever 8th Air Force heavy bombers (B-17 and B-24) were within reach of the Münster-Handorf interceptors.
The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect in pinning down the interceptors.
For a short period of time between Novembere 1944 and february 1945 the airbase was also used by Me262 reconnaissance aircraft of "Sonderkommando Braunegg".
Another noteworthy unit was III./KG76, who flew the worlds first jet combat attack mission against Liège in Belgium with Ar234 jet bombers.


The air field was captured by advancing American troops by 5 April 1945.
Two days earlier German troops had begun blowing up the remaining facilities, leaving a destroyed air base to the Americans.
On 6 April 1945 IX Engineer Command 852d Engineer Aviation Battalion began repairing the airfields concrete runways.
Because of the heavy damage it took them weeks to fill all the bomb craters and cover them with a 5,000feet asphalt runway
The airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-94 Handorf" on 12 April, and immediately P-47 Thunderbolts of the 366th Fighter Group and on 15 April, the 406th Fighter Group moved in to attack the encircled German forces trapped in the Ruhr Pocket
Eventually the attacks helped in forcing the surrender of over 300,000 German troops and their equipment.
This surrender eliminated further serious opposition by the German Forces, and American and British troops relatively easily swept into Northern, central and southern Germany.
With the end of combat on 7 May the combat units moved out in June and the airfield was turned over to Air Technical Service Command, tasked with returing excess allied aircraft to the United States, selling them to Allied nations or scrapping them.
By December 1945 the airfield was turned over to British control.


The destroyed base had little value to the RAF as an airfield, and the facility was used as a Garrison as part of the Army of Occupation until 1949 when it was closed.
Most of the airfield was removed during the 1950s as part of the West German reconstruction effort, after the local population resisted plans to resurrect the airfield.
An army barracks was built at the site however, which was completed in 1957.
In 1959 the Netherlands used the aviation terrain to base B-battery of 199Sqn with Nike-Hercules.
This nuclear capable unit stayed at the site until the mid 1970s, supported by an Alpha team of the 509th Artillery Detachment/USAAD.
Their vacated facilities were torn down in the 1980s, and the grounds were demunitionised to allow the German Army to use it as an exercise grounds.
The last building, a former Netherlands missile guidance facility, was not torn down until 1998.






Nike section Charlie (119Sqn, RNLAF) at Münster-Handorf around 1974 (Wikipedia)





Former airfield Münster-Handorf in June 2006 (Google Earth)
Much of the terrain, especially the removed runways have been overgrown with trees
Some of the roads and platforms of the Nike battery era are still there though (see below).