Metz-Frescaty Air Base

Metz-Frescaty Air Base Base aérienne 128 (Advanced Landing Ground Y-34)
Socata TBM 700 high performance single engine turboprop utility aircraft
IATA:MZM ICAO:LFSF
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Government of France
Operator	Armée de l'air
Location	Metz,France
ElevationAMSL	629 ft / 192 m
Coordinates	49°04′18″N006°07′54″E
Map
LFSF Location of Metz-Frescaty Air Base
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19 2,400 7,874 Asphalt

Metz-Frescaty Air Base(French:Base aérienne 128 Metz-Frescaty) (IATA:MZM,ICAO:LFSF) was a front-lineFrench Air ForceFrench:Armée de l'Air(ALA) base. The base is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south-southwest ofMetz(Département de la Moselle, Lorraine), about 174 miles (280 km) east ofParis.

A military restructuring plan announced in July 2008 was to close BA 128 in 2011, and place it in reserve status (Base Interarmes).

Major units assigned

Metz-Frescaty was primarily a command and control base.

• Staff of the Combat Air Force (FAC).
• 54th Air Intelligence Wing.
• Center for Mobile Detection and Control.
• Telecommunications Group.
• Combined Transport Squadron 1/40 "Moselle". (Eurocopter AS355;SOCATA TBM)
• Escadron électronique aéroporté 1/54 DunkerqueC-160 Transall"Gabriel" ELINT aircraft
• Company regional infrastructure.

History

Origins

Following the defeat of France in the 1871Franco-Prussian War,Metz and much of the Moselle were annexed byGermanyas part of theTreaty of Frankfurt,and Metz became a "Garrison City" of theImperial German Army(Reichsheer). In the early 20th century, the German army began building aZeppelinfield to the south-west of the city, at the present site of the airfield.

World War I

DuringWorld War I,in addition to the Zeppelins, theLuftstreitkräfte(Imperial German Army Air Service) began stationing airplanes at the airfield, which were later used in combat over theWestern Frontduring the war. It became the target of French and British aircraft later in the war, starting about 1915 with the development of bomber and fighter combat aircraft. It also was the target for long-range artillery attacks.

Following thearmistice with Germanyending theFirst World War,the French army entered Metz in November 1918, and the airfield came under the control of theFrench Air Force(Aéronautique Militaire).

Between the wars

In 1919, the first French Air Force units moved into Frescaty Air Base, when Bombardment Group No. 1 moved in from Landau in the OccupiedGermanRhineland-Palatinate.On 1 August 1920, the unit was redesignated as the 11th Aviation Bombardment Regiment (11th RAB). In 1927, the 3d Group of the 12th Aviation Regiment was also assigned, moving fromNeustadt an der Weinstraße,also in the OccupiedRhineland.

On 31 May 1934, Frescaty Air Base received the designation of base aérienne 111 (BA 111). The 11th Wing Frescaty left in 1936 and settled in Toulouse. Two years later, the transition from GB I/38 and II/38 on Amiot 143, causes the change in mission of the 38th Wing, which became the 38th Bombardment Wing in March 1939. By the following June 38 EB is reassigned toFrench North Africa.

The Phony War and the Battle of France

At the outbreak ofWorld War IIon 3 September 1939, the CAG 506 and GR II/22 (flyingBloch MB.131reconnaissance-bombers andPotez 630heavy twin-engined fighters) were present at Frescaty.

Frescaty Air Base was bombed by theLuftwaffeon 10 May 1940 on the first day of the German attack in the West. After theSecond Battle of Sedan(12–15 May 1940), GR II/22 was replaced by GR I/22. Frescaty Air Base was again attacked on 14 June, and was seized by theWehrmachtshortly afterward.

German control during World War II

Under Luftwaffe control, the airfield was initially used as a night interceptor fighter base, with Nachtjagdgeschwader 4 (NJG 4) flyingMesserschmitt Bf 110sand later RADAR-equippedDornier Do 217sagainst the night attacks by theRoyal Air Forceon German targets.In 1943, a dive bomber school, Schlachtgeschwader 103 (SG 103) was established at the base, training pilots withArado Ar 96advanced trainers;Focke-Wulf Fw 190Fs, andJunkers Ju 87s.

The school closed in February 1944; the night fighters were reassigned in May. In June, day interceptor fighters of Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) moved in withMesserschmitt Bf 109Gs to attack AmericanEighth Air Forceheavy bombers. In July, Kampfgeschwader 101 (KG 101) arrived as part of the Mistel (German: Mistletoe), project, in which Junkers Ju 88A, bombers were controlled by a Messerschmitt Bf 109E, which was flown to the target by the fighter, then separated and guided, with a shaped 1,800 kg charge at the nose of the aircraft, and used as unmanned powered bomb. kg 101 flew several attacks against hardened Allied targets along the English channel coast.

These activities led to Frescaty being attacked by USAAFNinth Air ForceMartin B-26 Maraudermedium bombers andRepublic P-47 Thunderboltsmostly with 500-pound General-Purpose bombs; unguided rockets and.50 caliber machine gun sweeps whenEighth Air Forceheavy bombers (Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses,Consolidated B-24 Liberators) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base. The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also theNorth American P-51 Mustangfighter-escort groups ofEighth Air Forcewould drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.

American control

Y-34 Metz Airfield facilities during the winter of 1944/1945

Destroyed P-47 Thunderbolts due to the attack by the Luftwaffe, 1 January 1945

In November 1944, American Third Army forces moved into the Metz area and heavy fighting ensued between the Allies and the German forces. On 29 November the airfield was taken from German control. Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 830th Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 5 December. Due to the heavy fighting in the area and extensive damage from the Allied bombing attacks on the base, much restoration work was necessary. A new 5000'Pierced Steel Plankingmetal runway was laid down aligned 02/20 for aircraft use, and after nearly a month the airfield was declared operationally ready on 25 December 1944 asAdvanced Landing Ground"Y-34 Metz".

Under American control, Metz Air Base was turned over to theNinth Air Force,being used as a P-47 Thunderbolt combat fighter-bomber airfield for the rest of the war. Units which used the airfield were:

• 365th Fighter Group,27 December 1944 – 30 January 1945
• 368th Fighter Group,5 January-15 April 1945
• 406th Fighter Group,2–8 February 1945
• 371st Fighter Group,15 February-7 April 1945

The LuftwaffeOperation Bodenplatte(Unternehmen Bodenplatte) attacks on Metz Airfield byJagdgeschwader 53(JG 53) on 1 January 1945 from its base near Stuttgart (Echterdingen) with Bf 109Gs was part of the German last-ditch effort to achieve air superiority, even temporarily over the Western Front. JG 53 destroyed or damaged about 40 Thunderbolts of the 365th Fighter Group in the attack, but the damage to the airfield was quickly repaired, the destroyed aircraft moved off the ramp, and replacements arrived within a few days to continue the attack. JG 53 retreated intoCzechoslovakiaandAustriabefore it was finally disbanded in April 1945.

On 29 May 1945, control of Metz Airfield was returned to the French Air Force.

Postwar

Although under French Air Force Control, the airfield was badly damaged by the war. Reconstruction began in April 1946. In 1950, when as a result of theCold Warthreat of theSoviet Union,Metz-Frescaty was proposed by theUnited States Air Forceto become an interimNATOfighter base, until other airfields could be constructed. In the ongoing negotiations, the site was ultimately rejected, and reconstruction of the base continued for French Air Force requirements.

The new paved jet runway was officially opened 20 July 1951, but the first French Air Force flying units were not assigned until April 1956 when 1/9 "Limousin" left BA 139 (Lahr, West Germany) and moved to Frescaty Air Base. Construction of the facility continued until 1956. The air base was designated base aérienne 128 (BA 128) during the summer of 1956. During the past 50 years, many units have been assigned to the base, flying a wide variety of aircraft. The last combat unit was reassigned on 31 August 2004.

Until closure, Metz-Frescaty Air Base was a fully equipped front line French Air Force Base, primarily being used for command, control and training along with electronic warfare.

The base closed on 31 August 2012. As at September 2019, the airfield runway is marked (with Xs) as not usable for landings.

See also

• Advanced Landing Ground

References

This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theAir Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Airport information for LFSFat Great Circle Mapper.