RAF Geilenkirchen
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RAF Geilenkirchen | |||||||
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Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany | |||||||
Coordinates | 50°57′36.7″N 6°2′32.6″E / 50.960194°N 6.042389°E | ||||||
Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||
Site information | |||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||
Controlled by | RAF Second Tactical Air Force Royal Air Force Germany | ||||||
Site history | |||||||
Built | 1952 | /3||||||
In use | May 1953 – 28 January 1968 | ||||||
Airfield information | |||||||
Identifiers | IATA: GKE, ICAO: ETNG | ||||||
Elevation | 90 metres (295 ft) AMSL | ||||||
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Motto | Celer Respondere |
Royal Air Force Geilenkirchen more commonly known as RAF Geilenkirchen is a former Royal Air Force station in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, built by the British who used the facility mainly as an airfield for RAF fighter squadrons from May 1953 until 21 January 1968.
History
[edit]Geilenkirchen squadrons
[edit]- No 2 Squadron RAF – 1955–1957; operated the Gloster Meteor FR.9 and later the Supermarine Swift FR.5.[1]
- No. 3 Squadron RAF – 1953–1957 and 1959–1961, 1961–68; operated the Hawker Hunter F.4, the Gloster Javelin FAW.4 and the English Electric Canberra B(I).8 (1961–68).
- No. 5 Squadron RAF – 1962–1965; operated the Gloster Javelin FAW.9.
- No. 11 Squadron RAF – 1959–1965; operated the Gloster Meteor NF.11 and later the Gloster Javelin FAW.4, FAW.5, FAW.9.
- No. 59 Squadron RAF – 1957–1961; operated the Canberra B.2 and B(I).8 (1957–61).
- No. 92 Squadron RAF – 1965–1968; operated the English Electric Lightning F.2, F.2A.
- No. 96 Squadron RAF – 1958–1959; operated the Gloster Javelin FAW.4.
- No. 234 Squadron RAF – 1954–1957; operated the Canadair Sabre F.4 and later the Hawker Hunter F.4.
- No. 256 Squadron RAF – 1958-1958; operated the Gloster Meteor NF.11.
Post RAF history
[edit]The RAF handed over the station to German Luftwaffe in March 1968. The Germans used the airfield as home for a Surface-to-Surface Missile Wing equipped with Pershing missiles with support from the United States Army.
Current use
[edit]In 1980, the station became NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, the main operating base for NATO's Airborne Early Warning and Control force, operating 14 Boeing E-3A Sentry aircraft.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Jefford 1988, p. 00.
Bibliography
[edit]- Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.