The air base A75/B75 was situated 27 km S of Brussels and 2.5 km E of Nivelles. Rated for fighters.
History: an old pre-war Belgian Air Force base that was briefly used by the Luftwaffe in May 40 but rarely after that.
Dimensions: 825 x 685 meters (900 x 750 yards).
Surface and Runways: grass and soil surface. No paved runway. Rudamentary taxi tracks existed along the W boundary and part of the E boundary.
Fuel and Ammunition: fuel was brought from the Nivelles train station if and when needed. Ammunition was stored in an underground bunker off the W boundary.
Infrastructure: had 4 large hangars and 1 medium hangar in a row along the NW corner. Two of the large hangars had dummy houses on their roof for camouflage purposes. Behind the hangars were 5 long barrack buildings, a dispensary, admin
offices, kitchens and the station motor pool and garages. Station HQ and the officers’ mess were reportedly in a building just W of the 2 eastern most hangars on the N boundary. The nearest rail connection was in Nivelles.
Dispersal: a West dispersal had just 2 aircraft shelters.
Defenses: consisted of 1 heavy Flak positions and 2 AA machine gun positions in Apr 43. The main entrance to the airfield was protected by 3 roadblock barriers.
Remarks:
Apr 43: landing area obstructed with portable tripods.
5 Jan 44: the roof is missing from one of the large hangars and all of the aircraft shelters in the West dispersal were reported to be in a state of disintegration.
9 May 44: bombed by 8th AAF heavies.
Operational Units: Stab, II./LG 1 (May 40).
The base was liberated by the USAAF who quickly occupied the place and began to reinforce the runway to receive transport planes, including DC3. The expanded and refurbished track and the new annexes (buildings and hangars) made it possible from February 1945 to accommodate a large number of aircraft.
The staff were partly housed at the residence, in school buildings in Nivelles or under tents, near the aerodrome.
The B75 base was also used to welcome war prisoners released and flown from the camps in Germany.
After the war, the site was taken over by the Belgian army which used the facilities until 1956 as an auxiliary aerodrome. The whole area was transformed into an industrial park.
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