| History of Florennes Airbase |
By Sascha Jussen
The airfield Florennes was built between June 1942 and August 1943 for the German Luftwaffe, close to the small Belgian town Florennes.
new base first hosted the 1. Gruppe/ Nachtgeschwader 4 from August 1943. The unit was equipped with Me 110s, until these were replaced
by Do 217s in September 1943. During the following year the unit operated the Ju 88, Me 410 and Fw 190 in fast succession.
On September 4th 1944 the airfield was occupied by the 1st US Division (Big Red One), thus ending just one year of Luftwaffe operations at
Florennes. On September 28th 1944 the 370th Fighter Group, equipped with the P-28 Lightning, the P-61 Black Widow and the A-20, deployed to
Florennes. The 474th Group followed in October 1944 with three squadrons which all were equipped with the P-38. US presence at Florennes ended
in August 1945 with the withdrawal of the 344th Bomber Group, consisting of four squadrons of B-26s Marauder.
In 1946 the Belgian Air Force took over the airfield and began modernising the base. One year later 2 Wing, equipped with two squadrons
(1 and 2 Squadron) of Spitfires, found its home at Florennes. In 1951 the wing was re-equipped with the F-84E Thunderjet while the F-84F
Thunderstreak followed in 1955. Between 1950 and 1960 2 Wing parented a third sub-unit, 3 Squadron, which also flew with F-84s. In 1970
2 Wing began flying the Mirage BA/BR/BD. From 1970 until 1971 8 Squadron was based at Florennes with its Mirages until finally moving to
Bierset. 1 Squadron also moved to Bierset while 42 Recce Squadron was constituted at Florennes and operated the Mirage 5BR. 42 Squadron
also moved to Bierset in 1988 while 1 Squadron returned to Florennes and began transitioning to the F-16A/B. 2 Squadron also began
receiving F-16s that year thus marking the end of 18 years of Mirage 5 operations Florennes.
2 Wing once again received a third squadron in 1996, when 1 Wing at Beauvechain disbanded as a fighter unit, and 350 Squadron moved to
Florennes with its F-16A/Bs. Further reduction of Belgian Forces lead to disbandment of 2 Squadron at the beginning of 2001. The remaining
two squadrons, 1 Squadron "Stingers" and 350 Squadron "Ambiorix" have completed transition to the updated MLU-variant of the F-16A/B by
the end of 2003, while almost all aircraft assigned have lost any unit-markings. 1 Squadron has taken over a reconnaissance role since the
late 1990s in addition to its fighter-bomber-role. For this purpose, F-16AMs are equipped with a recce-pod containing various optical
cameras and an infrared line scanner. 350 Squadron is a fighter-squadron with a secondary fighter-bomber-role.
Apart from 2 Wing, Florennes airbase has been hosting further NATO organisations since the 1980s: In 1984 the USAF returned to Florennes
in form of the 485th Tactical Missile Wing which was equipped with Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCM) "Gryphon". The missile unit was
withdrawn from Florennes in 1988 in connection with the policy of détente between NATO countries and nations of the Warsaw Pact.
In 1989 the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) decided to move from Jever airbase in Germany to Florennes due to the central position of
the airbase in Europe and the good infrastructure available at Florennes after the withdrawal of the USAF Cruise Missile unit. A further,
if not the most important reason of the move were low flying restrictions imposed on air forces operating in Germany after various fatal
aircraft accidents in 1988. While the move of the TLP to Florennes was still in progress, a few flying courses were staged at Lossiemouth
(UK), Volkel (Netherlands) and Metz (France). The first TLP flying course at Florennes started in January 1990, while the Tactical
Leadership Programme grew in Florennes by addition of the Academics Branch and the Concepts & Doctrines Branch, which both provide
the theoretical background for the TLP flying courses as well as for air operations of all NATO countries. The TLP is expected to
stay at Florennes until end 2009 at least before moving to Albacete (Spain).
The full history of Florennes airbase and its based units is well documented in the Spitfire Memorial Museum assigned to the base.
The museum is opened on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1300LT till 1700LT. Also on Sundays and during holidays it is opened from 1300LT till
1730LT. A visit can also be arranged by appointment via Museum Kol Vl R. Lallemant DFC (vzw), 2 Wing TAC, Basis J. Offenberg, 5620 Florennes
( Tel : 00 32 (0)71 68 25 14 or 00 32 (0)71 68 22 52 ). More info here.
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Photo: Oliver Zarden
Photo: Peter Doll
Photo: Peter Doll
Photo: Michael Stolle
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