Pressespiegel

B.100 Goch

A short history

After the D-Day landings in Normandy, the allies swept towards Germany. To assist and support the advance the RAF had to keep up with the ground forces and gain air superiority. For this purpose the RAF needed airfields/landing grounds.*

Due to the speed of the advance numerous airfields/landing grounds were constructed, and were prefixed with B for the British (B.1 - 174), and A-Y- or R for the Americans (1 - 99).
B.1 was at Asnelles-sur-Mer near Carpiquet (France), B.174 was at Uetersen (Germany).

The main American forces headed south towards the Siegfried Line and the Mosel.

The 21st Army Group consisting of the 1st Canadian, 2nd British and 9th US Armies commanded by Field Marshal Montgomery, forged through Belgium and the Netherlands to the German border in the Cleve - Wesel area, with the goal of reaching the Elbe and joining up with the Russian Army.

Having crossed the border it was essential to have air power to facilitate the Rhine crossing.
For this purpose the first RAF (2nd TAF) airfield on German soil was built. B.100 (Goch)!!.

This happened to be on the the area of the latter RAF Station Laarbruch, quasi RAF Laarbruch`s predecessor.

On 20 March 1945 units of 83 Group`s 121 (Typhoon) Wing, began arriving at B.100 in readiness to support the Rhine crossing.

The Rhine crossing (Operation Plunder) began on the 23 March 1945 between Emmerich and Xanten - Wesel.
Operation Plunder was supported by the squadrons stationed at B.100 at the time.

Text:- Terry Moore

click map to enlage

"The first landing ground at Goch** was a small strip used by the Austers of No 662 Sqn between 4 and 26 Mar 45... the main B 100 landing ground was located just across the German border from Holland, 8 miles south-east of the village of the same name and 3 miles south-west of Weeze. Laid out in Pierced Steel Planking on grass, the runway was 3,600 ft I long with a grass-surfaced parallel crash strip. A mile to the north-west, near the Auster strip, was a 3,000 ft grass runway provided for casualty evacuation. As at B 5, supporting facilities were adequate but unsophisticated: accommodation was in tents; refuelling was by jerry can; and a mobile lighting array was available to permit night-flying. Capable of operating two Wings, the first aircraft of No 121 (Typhoon) Wing arrived at Goch on 20 Mar 45, being joined 10 days later by those of No 143 Canadian Wing. The typhoons were replaced in mid-Apr by the Spitfires of No 127 Canadian Wing but they too had moved on by the end of the month. B 100 as such then fell into disuse but the site was later selected for development as one of the new permanent airfields to be constructed for the RAF in Germany. Opened, as Laarbruch, in 1954 it was initially used by reconnaissance aircraft and housed the Meteors and Canberras of Nos 69, 79 and 541 Sqns before the end of the year. Laarbruch remains one of the RAF`s major facilities in Germany today (1987)."

Text:- in Jefford, R.A.F Squadrons

* "Unlike the more or less permanent air stations built in the United Kingdom, many airfields in mainland Europe were classified as landing grounds. Technically, the term "landing ground" signified a landing area without an all-weather runway and with incomplete facilities . When facilities were completed or an all weather runway was constructed, the landing area was to be called an "airfield". It was common practice, however, for the generic term "airfield" to be used regardless of the technical status of the landing area. The vital construction time was also depending on the material. An SMT-paved fighter-bomber airfield could usually be constructed in about one week. A similar PHS field would require double that time, while construction of a PSP field could take up to a month. Pierced steel plank was even better, with built-in structural strength sufficient for all-weather airfields suitable for medium bomber operations. Unfortunately, PSP was available in rather limited quantities, and its greater weight made long road transports impractical. The priorities for the use of PSP changed markedly during the winter of 1944-1945. With the arrival of the wet winter season in the Low Countries it was found that PHS and SMT strips simply sank into the moist ground. PSP became then the only surfacing material that could withstand local weather conditions. Many selected airfields in Belgium and France were subsequently covered with PSP. Whenever possible, captured German airfields were cleared of mines and craters, repaired and incorporated into the system. Not surprisingly, it was found that German airfields could be rehabilitated and made operational sooner than new airfields, so their reuse became the preferred method particularly as the Allied forces entered Germany, where permanent Luftwaffe bases were available."

Text:- Martin Waligorski

**The name B.100 Goch was used by the British to denote the landing field. This is however topographically incorrect! The landing field was actually situated on the terrain of the latter RAF Laarbruch, the present Airport Weeze.

Goch was however the most important road and rail junction between the Rhine and the Meuse (Maas), thus for the Allies the obvious choice for stockpiling material and equipment to be used in the Rhine crossing.

121 (Typhoon) Wing:

No 174 Sqn RAF

21 March 1945 arrived from Volkel (NL) (B. 80) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
10 April 1945 disbanded in Goch.

"My son forwarded your E-Mail to me re B100. As a matter of interest I arrived at B100 on 22nd. March to join 174sqn. I am 4th from the left on the front row. We covered the Rhine crossing and I flew 15 sorties with them. 174sqn disbanded on 8th april and I moved over to 184sqn. I am the on the extreme right end of the wing. We left Goch on 11th april for B110 and I continued with them through Germany until the end of the war. Unfortunately I only have the sqn photos you show on your site so cannot help you there. Sidney Russell Smith Known as "junior"by the other sqn pilots!"

174 Sqn History

No 175 Sqn RAF

21 March 1945 arrived from Volkel (NL) (B. 80) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
11 April 1945 moved to Achmer (B. 110).

175 Sqn History

No 184 Sqn RAF

21 March 1945 arrived from Volkel (NL) (B. 80) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
11 April 1945 moved to Achmer (B. 110).

The squadron moved to Europe on 27 June 1944 airfield B10 France. They continued to support the army throughout the push to Holland and finally Germany where the squadron arrived on 21 March 1945, becoming the first RAF squadron based on German soil. ORB's entry by Sqn/Ldr Smith :- "All up before 7 this morning getting things packed into the trucks. The warmest day we have had this year. F/Lt Hornell said cheerio to VOLKEL by a trip round in a Tempest. In the afternoon we left for our new strip B,100 South of GOCH. We had the honour to be the first R.A.F. Squadron to land on German soil. In the evening we all set coarse for EINDHOVEN for our party given by the Ground Crews."

184 Sqn History

184 Sqn Website

No 245 Sqn RAF

20 March 1945 arrived from Volkel (NL) (B. 80) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
11 April 1945 moved to Achmer (B. 110).

245 Sqn History

127 (RCAF) Wing:

No 403 (Wolf) Sqn RCAF

11 April 1945 arrived from Eindoven (NL) (B. 78) equipped with Spitfire XVI LF.
28 April 1945 moved to Reinsehlen (B. 154).

403 Sqn History

No 416 (City of Oshawa) Sqn RCAF

12 April 1945 arrived from Eindoven (NL) (B. 78) equipped with Spitfire XVI LF.
14 April 1945 moved to Diepholz (B. 114).

416 Sqn History

No 421 (Red Indian) Sqn RCAF

11 April 1945 arrived from Eindhoven (NL) (B.78) equipped with Spitfire XVI LF:
13 April 1945 moved to Diepholz (B. 114).

421 Sqn History (I)

421 Sqn History (II)

No 443 (Hornet) Sqn RCAF

12 April 1945 arrived from Eindhoven (NL) (B.78) equipped with Spitfire XVI LF.
13 April 1945 moved to Diepholz (B.114).

443 Sqn History (I)

443 Sqn History (II)

143 (RCAF) Wing:

No 438 (Wildcat) Sqn RCAF

3 April 1945 arrived from Warmwell (UK) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
12 April 1945 moved to Achmer (B. 110).

438 Sqn History

No 439 (Westmount) Sqn RCAF

30 March 1945 arrived from Eindhoven equipped with Typhoon 1B.
3 April 1945 moved to Warmwell (UK).

439 Sqn History

No 440 (City of Ottawa and Beaver) Sqn RCAF

12 April 1945 arrived from Eindhoven (NL) (B. 78) equipped with Typhoon 1B.
11 April 1945 moved to Achmer (B.110).

440 Sqn History

Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadron:

No 662 Sqn RAF

4 March 1945 arrived from Reichswalde equipped with Auster V.
6 March moved to Ossenpass.
10 March returned from Ossenpass.
26 March 1945 moved to Appeldoorn (NL).

662 Sqn History