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Brétigny-sur-Orge Air Base (French: Base aérienne 217 Bretigny-Sur-Orge) (ICAO: LFPY) is a former French Air ForceFrench: Armée de l'Air (ALA) base. The base is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Brétigny-sur-Orge; about 17 miles (27 km) south of Paris.
Units
Integrated structure of maintenance in operational condition of the aeronautical materials of defense.
Logistic service of the police station of air (SELOCA).
Squadron Syderec (OVIA).
Support of OIA (SOCRATE) and OVIA (SIMMAD, BEAD, SYDEREC)
Aircraft
The base has no permanent aircraft assigned, however runway and turnaround service is available for transient aircraft.
Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France, Brétigny was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftlotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):[1][2]
Kampfgeschwader 51 (KG 51) 3 November 1940 – 30 March 1941 Junkers Ju 88A (Fuselage Code: 9K+)
Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) 14 April-26 May 1941 Junkers Ju 88A (Fuselage Code: B3+)
KG 51, KG 54 and KG 30 all took part in night bombing raids over England; KG6 also to a lesser degree as fuel shortages began restricting night bomber missions; JG 1 was a day interceptor unit against Eighth Air Force heavy bombers.
It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 27 August 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the USAAF IX Engineering Command 825th Engineer Aviation Battalion began clearing the base of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft; filling bomb craters in both runways with rubble and a Pierced Steel Planking patch along with repairing operational facilities for use by American aircraft. Subsequently, Brétigny became a USAAF Ninth Air Force combat airfield, designated as "A-48" about 29 August, only a few days after its capture from German forces.[5]
Almost immediately, the repaired base became home to numerous combat units.[6]
The Americans returned control of the base to the French Air Force in August 1945 and it returned to being a French military airfield.[7]
Post WW2
After the war, the base was completely rebuilt, with a new 9000' (3000m) jet runway laid down parallel to the wartime 05/23 main. The wartime runway was reduced in width, resurfaced with asphalt and reused as a taxiway. The secondary 11/29 was also refurbished, however it was closed for the past few years. Aerial photography of the base shows it recently marked with an excellent concrete surface. New hangars and support facilities were built along with a new support area.
^Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN0-89201-092-4.
^Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.