German use during World War II

This airport was built in the 1930s and seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France. Beauvais was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation. Known units assigned (all from Luftflotte 3, Fliegerkorps IV):

Kampfgeschwader 76 (KG 76) June – 24 October 1940 Dornier Do 17Z-2 (Fuselage Code: F1+)

Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 (SKG 1) July 1940 Junkers Ju 87B Stuka

The initial German use of the airport was as a bomber base. kg 76 and SKG 1 both took part in the Battle of Britain. kg 76 was reduced to 19 out of 29 serviceable machines by 18 August 1940. kg 76 raided London on 7 and 15 September 1940.

Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26) September 1940 – February 1941 Heinkel He 111H (Fuselage Code: 1H+)

Kampfgeschwader 77 (KG 77) 3–22 March 1941 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: 3A+)

Kampfgeschwader 4 (KG 4) 30 June – 19 July 1941 Heinkel He 111H (Fuselage Code: 5J+)

Kampfgeschwader 54 (KG 54) 9 July – 16 August 1942 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: B3+)

Kampfgeschwader 6 (KG 6) December 1942 – February 1943 Junkers Ju 88A-1 (Fuselage Code: K6+)

With the Luftwaffe switching to night attacks on England, the badly damaged units at Beauvais were replaced by a series of He 111 and Ju 88A units that carried out anti-shipping missions (KG 26, KG 77) and night bombing missions over England (KG 4, KG 54, KG 6).

Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26) 15 August – 3 October 1943 Focke-Wulf Fw 190A

Jagdgeschwader 1 (JG 1) 6–30 June 1944 Messerschmitt Bf 109G

The increasing number and frequency of USAAF Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator daylight heavy bomber raids over occupied Europe and Germany made the Luftwaffe move out the bomber units and assign day interceptor fighter units to attack the American bombers as part of the Defense of the Reich. After the invasion of Normandy, elements of JG 1 were moved to France and were tasked with providing air support to the German army, along with their normal air defense role against Allied bombers.

In response to the interceptor attacks, Beauvais was attacked by USAAF Ninth Air Force Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers with 500-pound general-purpose bombs, unguided rockets and .50 caliber machine gun sweeps when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers 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 the North American P-51 Mustang fighter-escort groups of Eighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep.

American use

It was liberated by Allied ground forces about 3 September 1944 during the Northern France Campaign. Almost immediately, the United States Army Air Forces IX Engineer Command 818th Engineer Aviation Battalion cleared the airport of mines and destroyed Luftwaffe aircraft. Little battle damage was sustained, and the airport became a USAAF Ninth Air Force combat airfield, designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-61" about 15 September, also being known as "Beauvais/Tille Airfield".

From Beauvais, the Ninth Air Force 322d Bombardment Group flew B-26 Marauder medium bombers from mid-September until March 1945. Once the combat unit moved east, the airport was used by transport units, flying in supplies from England and evacuating combat casualties on the return trip. The Americans returned full control of the airport to French authorities on 17 August 1945.

Development since the 1950s

In 1950, the Air Ministry offered to provide the wartime air base to NATO as part of the Cold War development of the alliance.

Demolition crews arrived and removed the wartime wreckage, and any unexploded munitions were removed from the site. Funding shortages did not allow the construction of an 8,000 feet (2,400 m) jet runway, dispersal pads and other features found at a modern military airfield. Instead, in 1953, the NATO plans for Beauvais were discontinued and the airport was returned to private hands.