Canadian Forces Base Lahr
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| Canadian Forces Base Lahr | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | Canadian Forces Air Command | ||||||||||
| Location | Lahr, Germany | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 48°22′9.30″N 07°49′39.8″E | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Canadian Forces Base Lahr (IATA:LHA, ICAO: EDTL, former code EDAN) was a military operated commercial airport located in Lahr, Germany. It was operated primarily as a French air force base, and later as a Canadian army base, beginning in the late 1960s. The military base was closed in 1994 and converted to civilian use. It is now known as the Flughafen Lahr.
Contents
[hide]History[edit]
The land that became CFB Lahr was first site of a German Airship hangar until 1918, which was then occupied by the French Air Force from the early 1950s to 1967.[1]
Canada established a presence at Lahr during the late 1960s with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as part of Canadian Forces Europe command.
In the early 1950s, the RCAF had established No. 1 Air Division to meet Canada's NATO air defence commitments in Europe. No. 1 Air Division consisted of twelve fighter squadrons located in four wings. Two wings were located in France (No. 1 Wing and No. 2 Wing) and two were located in West Germany (No. 3 Wing and No. 4 Wing). Eight air division squadrons were replaced by (nuclear) strike aircraft in 1962 in support of Canada's new and controversial nuclear strike role.
In 1963, the Government of France announced that all nuclear weapons located on French soil (NATO or French) would be controlled by France itself. This was unacceptable to the RCAF (and other NATO units stationed in France), so the two nuclear strike squadrons at 2 Wing were hastily moved in fall 1963; 430 Squadron to 3 Wing Zweibrücken, and 421 Squadron to 4 Wing Baden-Soellingen. Remaining non-nuclear armed units in France were repositioned to Marville, and RCAF Station Grostenquin closed in 1964.
In March 1966, the Government of France announced that it would be withdrawing its military forces from NATO and that current NATO units based in France must leave or fall under French military command. This forced the RCAF to look for a home in western Europe for 1 Wing and 1 Air Division Headquarters. They settled on Base Aérienne 139 Lahr which the Armée de l'Air was vacating as per the French government's announced withdrawal from NATO. RCAF personnel, aircraft and equipment were transferred to the new RCAF Station Lahr by March 1967 with dependents to follow later. The RCAF moved Marville's 439 and 441 Squadrons to Lahr in April 1967. In 1971 the latter squadron moved to CFB Baden-Soellingen and changed its name to 441 Tactical Fighter Squadron.
On February 1, 1968, the RCAF merged with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Forces. RCAF Station Lahr was renamed Canadian Forces Base Lahr, shortened to CFB Lahr. As part of cuts to reduce costs by consolidation, 3 Wing at RCAF Station Zweibrücken was closed with its units consolidating at CFB Lahr and CFB Baden-Soellingen.
Further defence cuts and consolidation saw the Canadian Army (then renamed Mobile Command) units based in Soest area of northern West Germany, along with those units based in nearby Hemer-Deilinghofen, Werl, and Unna, moved to CFB Lahr (some also moved to CFB Baden-Soellingen), with air force units concentrated at CFB Baden-Soellingen. The cuts resulted in a drawback of the air force from six squadrons to three which were reorganized under the new 1 Canadian Air Group banner.
Army units stationed at CFB Lahr were organized under 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group and were mostly heavy armour a Cold War tank formations (using Centurion tanks then Leopard 1) or mechanized infantry equipped with the M113 family of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC).
At the end of April, Earl and I are traveling to Germany where he will be speaking at four different locations. One of them is Kaiserslautern. Such a familiar ring. I asked both my brother John and sister Margaret what were their memories of military bases in the early 1960s when we lived at 1 Wing in France.
Following are a few comments from John:
"Looks like 4 wing is still there in Sollingen."
"Baden Baden 4th Wing
Baden Sollingen
3 Wing Lahr
I'm looking at an article Canadians buried in
Zweibrucken
2 wing Grostenquin or St Avold, France
4 wing between Kaiserslautern and Saarbrucken"
Me: US army base was at Verdun. Wehre was the air force base that was close to us?
John: "Etain. Also Laon and Toul.
Aimee's mother worked for Americans at Toul.
Canadian Forces Base Baden–Soellingen or CFB Baden–Soellingen (IATA, formerly known as RCAF Station Baden–Soellingen (Baden):FKB, ICAO: EDSB, former code EDAL) was a Canadian Forces base located near the farming community of Söllingen, part of the municipality of Rheinmünster in the West German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is now a commercial area called Baden Airpark, which also includes the regional airport Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
In 1963 the Cabinet of France announced that all nuclear weapons located on French soil (NATO or French) would be controlled by France itself. This was unacceptable to the RCAF (and other NATO units stationed in France), so the nuclear-capable 421 Squadron at Grostenquin was hastily moved in the fall of 1963 to Baden and the similarly equipped 430 Squadron at Grostenquin moved to Zweibrücken. Remaining non-nuclear armed units in France were re-positioned to Marville.
In March 1966 the Government of France announced that it would be withdrawing its military forces from NATO and that current NATO units based in France must leave or fall under French military command. This forced the RCAF to look for a home in Western Europe for 1 Wing and 1 Air Division Headquarters, moving to Base Aérienne 139 Lahr–Hugsweier which the Armée de l'Air was vacating as per the French government's announced withdrawal from NATO military integrated organisation. RCAF personnel, aircraft and equipment were transferred to the new RCAF Station Lahr (Lahr) by March 1967 with dependents to follow later.
CFB Baden–Soellingen[edit]
On 1 February 1968 the RCAF merged with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and Canadian Army to form the unified Canadian Forces. RCAF Station Baden–Soellingen was renamed Canadian Forces Base Baden–Soellingen, or CFB Baden–Soellingen. As part of an effort to remove duplication and cut the defense budget following unification of the services, Zweibrücken was closed with its units consolidating at Lahr and Baden.
Further defence cuts and consolidation saw the Canadian Army (then renamed to Force Mobile Command) units of 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group based in the Soest area of northwestern Germany moved to Lahr. However, a mechanized infantry battalion was stationed alongside the fighter squadrons at Baden:
Closure[edit]
The post-Cold War defence cuts of the early 1990s identified both Baden and Lahr for closure by 1994. The airfield at Baden closed on 31 March 1993 and several of its squadrons were disbanded with their aircraft returned to Canada for storage. By summer 1993 most personnel had vacated Baden with the base becoming a detachment of Lahr, whose personnel had also largely vacated by 31 August 1993. During the final months, Baden operated largely as a detachment of Lahr and was permanently closed on 31 December 1993. CFB Lahr would continue on until being officially closed 8 months later on 31 August 1994.
During 1950 the State Department, HQ USAF teams, and the French Defense Ministry negotiated to select the air bases and determine the amount of construction funding needed to get them operational at the earliest possible date. France gave tentative approval by February 1951 to establish ten main US air bases with all support facilities: Bordeaux-Merignac, Chambley-Bussieres, Chaumont-Somuntiers, Chateauroux-Deols, Dreux-Louvillier, Etain-Rouvres, Evreux-Fauville, Laon-Couvron, Phalsbourg-Bourscheid, and Toul-Rosieres. Two additional bases were selected for RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) fighters, Gros-Tenquin and Marville-Montmedy.
Personal note: (My father, Cpl. J. Robert Fisher, was based at 1 Wing in the Marville-Montmedy area. Part of the Servicemen's branch we attended was made up of people at Etain. John recalled that a little girl my parents wished to adopt was living in Toul-Rouvres with her mother who was the maid for an LDS family.)
FRANCE
Royal Canadian Air Force Station Marville:
Opened in 1951 in northeastern France as the home of 1 Wing, a part of the RCAF’s No. 1 Air Division, formed as part of Canada’s air defence commitment to NATO in Europe during the Cold War.
The station’s four fighter squadrons, all flying Canadair F-86 Sabres, were 410 Squadron, 441 Squadron and 439 Squadron originally from RCAF Station Uplands.
In 1956, some squadrons replaced their Sabre fighter jet with the CF-100 Canuck fighter. By 1962, the remaining squadrons were re-equipped CF-104 Starfighters. Also that year, 445 Squadron replaced 410 Squadron at Marville, remaining until December 1962, when the squadron disbanded.
In 1966 the Government of France announced it’s intention to withdraw from NATO, which resulted in the expulsion of NATO countries from France. As a result, 439 and 441 Squadrons re-located to RCAF Station Lahr in April 1967 and RCAF Station Marville closed.
Most of the station’s building remain, as does the abandoned runway.
- 1 Wing Marville, 1966. Photo from Sentinel magazine.
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