Woensdrecht airfield wasn’t (operationally) in use by the Dutch air force during the German invasion of May 1940. The Germans were very interested in the airfield because of its strategic location. Around the 10th of May 1940 the first Bf109E landed on the airfield and shortly after the entire I./JG20 Gruppe would move to Woensdrecht airfield. For 10 days the I./JG20 Bf109E’s flew combat missions over Brussel, Dunkirk and Calais. After this short FOB period the airfield was being constructed on a larger scale, with help of Dutch firms. Buildings, a perimeter road, taxiways, aircraft shelters, reinforcement of the grass runway with additional turf, building Flak emplacements were among these constructions.

German station personnel were mostly housed in nearby Hoogerheide and Huijbergen. Runway boundary lighting, a flare path, refueling points and ammunition storage were all created. Fliegerhorst Woensdrecht had 1 small repair hangar in the East dispersal area and a small cluster of barrack-type huts in the NW corner that housed the station HQ, fire station and billets.

There were three dispersals – East, North and West – with a total of at least 56 small aircraft shelters (Mar 43). By 20 Jun 44, these had been increased to 40 covered shelters, 24 open but mostly covered with camouflage netting and 8 parking sites for a total of 78. Defenses consisted of 2 heavy Flak positions, one with 6 guns, and 14 light Flak positions, all but a few of which were emplaced in Flak towers.

Besides I./JG20 (during which I./JG21 also flew out of Woensdrecht with their Bf109’s) operating shortly out of Woensdrecht for daily combat missions over the close by battlefields, some other units also used the Fliegerhorst for a short period of time in 1940. Among these were three different reconnaissance units which all operated the Hs126 light reconnaissance aircraft. These were 1.(H)/Aufkl.Gr.21, 2.(H)/Aufkl.Gr.21 and 4.(H)/Aufkl.Gr.31. Also III./JG54 operated from July until August 1940 out of Woensdrecht flying combat missions with Bf109’s. The I./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 with their Ju87 StuKa’s were based for a short rest&refit in between fighting on the French battlefields and being transferred to the Eastern Front.

Spitfire MkIX BS450/AH-E of (Norwegian) 332sq shot down by II./JG1

Group of FW190's of II./JG1 are ready for departure: during summer 1942 every afternoon just before nightfall all (!) FW190's flew to Venlo airfield for protection against aerial night bombing (which occured at Woensdrecht). Every morning they all flew back to Woensdrecht. This was a logistical nigthmare and it did not favour their daytime operational actions. In September 1942 all FW190's this daily procedure was cancelled.

FW190A2 weisse 3 (Buno 0336) of 4./JG1 crashed on Fliegerhorst Woensdrecht after an engine failure, its pilot did not survive

Gruppenkom. of I./JG26 Hauptm. Karl Boris shakes hands with one of his pilots after a successfull mision, his FW190 is in the background. To the right JG26 crew helps him getting out of his gear.

From September 1943 the allied air forces kept bombing Woensdrecht airbase, which was only used by the Luftwaffe for emergency landings and short stops. Around July 1944 the German started to dismantle the airbase. A couple of months later the area all around Woensdrecht airbase became the scène of very heavy figting between elite Canadian en German army units. The area was very important because of the fact that those who held it also regulated the passage towards the Beveland and Walcheren peninsula, which on their turn made it possible to either block or open the passage to the Antwerpen harbor. Which, as history tells us, was very important for the allies in order to supply and allow their advances into Holland and Germany. Woensdrecht seized to be a German base.