Talk:Vitry-en-Artois Airfield

Vitry-en-Artois (LFQS) now closed

The link between the modern grass airfield (ICAO: LFQS) and the WWII airbase has always been tenuous, with comments such as;

• The current airfield was built south of the wartime airfield, along the D950.
• It has no connection to the wartime field.

Google Earth satellite imagery confirms that airfield LFQS was a small concern with very few resident aircraft, mostly ULM / microlights, existing incidentally on the edge of the former airbase. In December 2015 an online petition was created to 'Save Vitry-en-Artois Airfield' from a proposed wind-farm development. There was also a presentation on Youtube

With effect from 8 March 2024, by order, all private aircraft activity has now ceased.

Reference online document; 'Official Journal of the French Republic (JORF)' - The Minister of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion.

I propose to update this article to re-focus on the historical air base aspect. WendlingCrusader (talk) 00:12, 21 March 2024 (UTC)

References

Allied use (1944-45) - major edit

The current layout gave undue emphasis to four squadrons of 391st BG, who allegedly passed briefly through this site on their way back to the USA after hostilities had ended. Conversely it de-emphasized the three squadrons of P-47s that performed actual combat sorties (& incurred losses) many months earlier during the push towards Berlin, instead limiting that entry to a single line encompassing the whole Group ('358th Fighter Group')

Whilst contemplating that, I discovered that the USAAF 358th Fighter Group were actually based at A-67 Vitry-le-Francois, not here at this similarly named RAF landing ground!!!

Additionally, the current article mis-quoted Maurer regarding the exact dates that the returning USAAF 391st BG B-26 squadrons passed (briefly) through RAF site Vitry-en-Artois. It's seems possible they were no more than overnight stopovers. (Maurer, pp667-669)

For these reasons, I am removing the entire entry regarding USAAF units at Vitry-en-Artois.

Likewise, all references to IX Engineer Command / 850th Engineer Aviation Battalion, is in relation to A-67 Vitry-le-Francois, not this location. FYI A-67 was a green-field site, with no bombed out remnants & pitted runways from a previous Luftwaffe base. B-50 would have been readied for action by British units (e.g. Royal Engineers) see Advanced landing ground

So far I have retained elements of the original article, including a dead-link that may yet turn out to be useful per WP:KDL

Additionally I have retained the RAF unit listing, to give myself or other editors a starting point for further investigations.

There is still much more editing to be done, which I will attempt in due course unless someone else beats me to it. WendlingCrusader (talk) 20:02, 23 March 2024 (UTC)