Wesendorf

52°34'33"N 010°30'44"E

Runway: 11/29 - ....meters/...feet - concrete(?)

Wesendorf airfield (german: Fliegerhort Wesendorf) was an airfield 180 kilometers west of Berlin.
The story has it the site for airfield Wesendorf was discovered more or less by accident by Captain (german: Hauptmann) Petersen.
The later commander of the 'blind flying school' (german: Blindfliegschule) Wesendorf, was en route from Berlin to Celle in a Heinkel Blitz.
Because his engine was overheating he began to look for a suitable place to land his plane without damage.
The only place he could land without causing damage appeared to be a moor without any trees, and indeed he landed his aircraft safely at 120kilometers an hour on Wesendorf Moor.
In reality the airfield had already been in use in World War I by the flying school of Brunswick.
In 1936 began the construction of airfield Wesendorf by building 120 homes for enlisted personnel, followed by the construction of the actual airfield that same year.
The location (South Moor, or in german: Südheide) was chosen because of the low population in the area.
In 1939 another 100 homes were built for officers.
During the war it was mainly used as a 'blind flying school'.






Oberstleutnant Stollbrock, commander of the Blindfliegschule 1Apr'38 - 22Nov'40


Because it was initially only used as a flying school, the airfield was of little strategic value and therefore hardly ever attacked by Allied bombers.
That changed as the war went into 1944 and the Luftwaffe began flying operational Arado Ar-234 'Blitz' jets from the base.
From February 1945 the airbase began training new pilots on the Bf109 and FW190 to get as many pilots trained for the final battle.
Starting 1 April Allied bombers began 'visiting' the base every 3 days until 10 April, causing heavy damage to the airfield.






Wesendorf logistic site early 1945


On 11 April American tanks passed the airfield within a few hundred meters without noticing it.
Only when one was shot at, they opened fire on two farms on the southern edge of the field.
They then crossed the field, but were thrown back by a German tank.
After this tank had been neutralised from the air, the airfield was taken without further fighting on 13 April by American forces.
The Americans transferred the base to British control on 8 May 1945.
All the machines they found were searched for any possible technical inventions, but when found of little or no use they were destroyed.
At Wesendorf this was the work of the 8301 Air-Dearmament Unit of the RAF.
Altogehter they destroyed 14 Ju88, 7 He111, 80 Bf109, 17 Fw190, 1 Fi156, 4 Ar234, 5 Si204 and 1 Savoia-Marchetti; a total of 129 aircraft.
According to Lt.Col. (german: Oberstleutnant) Benz, he had one He177 returned to Wesendorf, and 3 Ar234 were found in the rubble under one of the hangars.
Special circumstances had forced these aircraft to Wesendorf: as the Red Army approached the Arado factories he had one small test unit evacuate to the west under the guise of Heidefahrten GmbH (Moor Travels Inc).
With the destruction of the aircraft and facilities Wesendorf seized to exist as an airfield.






On 4 April 1945 severe damage was caused by a daylight raid of AF. On 10 April a series of ground attacks followed
by US fighters which mainly caused loss in human life. By the time British troops reached Wesendorf, they discovered
four AR-234s under the hulks of 129 aircraft. Three of them were severely damaged by a collapsed hangar. This photo
shows the remains of a Ar-234C. Its Werke Nummer is readable on the tail: 130022.
(Photo German Aviation Research Group of Air-Britain, found on luchtoorlog.be)


In 1956 the barracks were transferred to the Luftwaffe and later to the German army.
From 1968 it held the name Hammerstein-Kaserne.
In 2004 the German Ministry of Defense decided to close the facility despite much protest from the region.
In June 2006 the flag was lowered for the last time.
The site has been on the market as an industrial estate ever since.


Trivia:
- The group responsible for camouflage of the Fliegerhorst managed a silkwormfarm during the war to produce silk.
To feed the silkworms mulberries were planted at the Fliegerhorst, which can be found at the barracks to this day.
The airfield also had a Angora-rabbit farm with around 2000 animals to produce wool.
- From 1944 an emergency hospital was run in todays 'Gaststätte Zum Deutschen Haus' by a Vienna doctor Dr. Böck.
By coincidence a troop doctor that was riding with the American forces happened to be a fellow student of Böck. Both medics had studied together in Heidelberg.
- In the Offizierskasino (german Officers mess) 6-8 'Hühner' ('chickens', or young women) took care of the officers.
- The sports hall served mainly as an entertainment center for the troops.
Movies, theatre shows and concerts were high on the program.






The former airfield in 2002 (Google Earth).