History
After the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in 1940, the Luftwaffe constructed a diversion airfield for fighter aircraft called Nachtlandeplatz Volkel. Later during the war, in 1943, the airfield was turned into an operational Luftwaffe base, and renamed Fliegerhorst Volkel. It was home to the "5e Zerstörer Gruppe" operating the Junkers Ju 88, and the "3e Gruppe Jagdgeschwader 7" operating the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter aircraft. A second jet engined aircraft, the Arado Ar 234 Bomber, landed in the morning of August 30, 1944, and flew bombing missions out of Volkel for about a week. V-1 flying bombs were also fired from Volkel. To defend the base against aerial attacks, the Germans had installed flak guns, but it was still bombed extensively. Attacks in 1944 in relation to Operation Market Garden caused such extensive damage to the airport that it could no longer be used by the Luftwaffe.
When later that year the south of the Netherlands was liberated, the Royal Air Force took control of the airfield. Though the Germans had destroyed most of the remaining airport facilities, the RAF continued to use the airport for the remainder of the war, operating Hawker Typhoon and Hawker Tempest aircraft from Volkel in support of the allied advance into Germany. French ace Pierre Clostermann, at the time a flight commander in No 122 Wing, provides a detailed description of operations from Volkel in early 1945 in his book The Big Show.
The Dutch Naval Aviation Service started flying from Volkel in 1949 for training purposes. In 1950, the Royal Netherlands Air Force took control of the airfield, restoring it to an operational fighter base. Gloster Meteor aircraft were the first jet aircraft to be based at Volkel for the RNLAF. Later came the Republic F-84 Thunderjet and Thunderstreak, which were eventually replaced by the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, the first supersonic aircraft of the RNLAF. In the 1970s, airport facilities were improved, and 32 protective Hardened Aircraft Shelters (HAS) were constructed for the aircraft. Between 1982 and 1984, the Starfighters were slowly replaced by the F-16 Fighting Falcons that are currently based at Volkel, which were manufactured under license by Fokker. The current F-16 aircraft are expected to be replaced by the F-35 Lightning II.
Read more about this topic: Volkel Air Base
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