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Airfields in Belgium during WWII

Grimbergen RAF Air Base - B60

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Last update: 25/06/23


Elegy to
the Heroes of Silence


Situation

Grimbergen Airfield - locally known as Vliegveld Grimbergen - (ICAO: EBGB) is a general aviation aerodrome located in Grimbergen, a municipality of the province of Flemish Brabant in Belgium. Like many recreational aerodromes in Belgium, it is formally a private field, requiring prior permission to land from visitors. The airfield is home to motorized aircraft, either privately owned or belonging to two active air clubs. It also hosts an aircraft repair and maintenance company.

WWII: Germans's use

The airfield was first created in 1939 by Belgian military, and came to full development by German occupation forces.

WWII: Allied's use

B60 Grimbergen airbase was liberated on 4 September 1944 by the British troops.
After the ground had been cleared, the specialized services arrived to repair the runway that had been bombed. But the heavy rains of November 1944 damaged the track despite its good order.
The construction of a new one was undertaken in parallel with the existing one, but the freezing and poor drainage of the terrain again rendered the runways non-operational.

Post War

After the war, it hosted the pilot's school of Belgian flag carrier Sabena.
There are two remarkable hangars on the airfield, constructed in 1947 by builder-architect Alfred Hardy (architect). Looking more like silos, they are in fact round hangars made of concrete.
In 1989, as part of a political reorganisation, the aerodrome was passed from the Belgian national authority RLW/RVA to the regional Flemish government, who closed it soon after. The aerodrome reopened in 1997 at the hands of a private not for profit association, who have been running it since. A large part of the aerodrome had to be given up however, to be transformed into a forest

airfields in Belgium
Sources:
www.sbap.be/events/2014/005wevelgem2014
www.mashpedia.net
www.sgkoksijde.be/index.php
https://www.airhistory.org.uk
https://www.27sqn.be/
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