Burg bei Magdeburg Fliegerhorst
Mission Summaries > June 1944 > Airfields in Jun 44
Burg bei Magdeburg (GER)
(52 15 30 N – 11 54 30 E)
General: Airfield (Fliegerhorst) in Anhalt 20 km NE of Magdeburg and 4 km ESE of Burg.
History: construction began in spring 1937 and concluded in spring 1939. Burg was one of the three largest airfields in that part of Germany and was flush with infrastructure. It was home to numerous bomber units during the war and in Nov 43 became the crew conversion center for the He 177 strategic bomber and then in 1944 for the Ar 234 jet bomber. In 1945 Burg was home to a night fighter unit equipped with Me 262 jets.
Dimensions: approx. 1190 x 1280 meters (1300 x 1400 yards) and roughly pear shaped.
Surface and Runways: grass surface on a clay foundation. Two paved runways, one 1,400 x 50 meters aligned ENE/WSW and the other 1,200 x 40 meters aligned NE/SW, paved hangar aprons and paved taxiways. A perimeter road ran along the E, S and W boundaries. Equipped with boundary and obstruction lighting, runway illumination, a beam approach system and a visual Lorenz system for night operations.
Fuel and Ammunition: refueling points were in front of the hangars on the SE boundary. At least 1 small ammunition dump was off the S corner.
Infrastructure: had 4 large aircraft hangars with paved aprons, a large repair hangar with a paved apron, numerous workshop buildings, control building, motor pool with 4 large garage buildings, 9 barracks, 5 building blocks for officer housing, station HQ, dispensary, officer’s club, and a number of other buildings. Nearly all of the hangars and buildings were on the SE boundary. Additionally, a small group of barrack huts off the NE corner housed French POWs who worked on the airfield. A branch rail line served the S corner of the airfield.
Dispersal: 3 areas – North, Southeast (remote) and West with a total of 5 large open aircraft shelters, 8 small open aircraft shelters and 40 parking bays that had been cut into the woods.
Defenses: unknown, but undoubtedly heavy during 1944-45.
Remarks:
- 09 May 44: bombed – 1 x Fw 58 from I./JG 3 destroyed.
- 20 Jun 44: low-level attack by VIII Fighter Command P-51s – claimed 1 x Ju 88 and 1 x Ju 52 destroyed, plus 1 x He 177 damaged.
- 29 Jun 44: attacked by 46 B-24 Liberators dropping 115 tons of bombs and strafed by VIII Fighter Command P-51s – claimed 2 x He 111s and 2 x Ju 52s destroyed, plus 1 x Bf 110 damaged.
- 24 Aug 44: low-level attack by VIII Fighter Command P-51s – claimed 6 x Ju 88s destroyed.
- 24 Dec 44: Allied photographic reconnaissance noted that the ENE/WSW runway was being extended to a length of approx. 2000 meters (2200 yards).
- 10 Apr 45: hit by 147 B-17 Fortresses dropping 439 tons of bombs that in 10 minutes destroyed 85% of the airfield and bringing a permanent end to flying operations; 4 x Me 262s from 10./NJG 11, 3 x Me 262 A-1s from 2./JG 7 and 3 x Me 262s from 2./NAGr. 6 destroyed or damaged (incomplete German sources). Also strafed by VIII Fighter Command P-51s which claimed 2 x Fw 190s, 2 x Me 262s, 5 x Me 410s, 3 x He 111s, 2 Ju 88s and 1 x Ar 234 destroyed, plus 2 x Fw 190s and 1 x Ju 87 damaged.
Operational Units: 17./KGr.z.b.V. 5 (Jan-Nov 39); I./KG 3 (Sep 39 – Mar 40); III./KG 1 (Dec 39 – Feb 40); I./KG 50 (Sep-Oct 43); II./KG 40 (Oct 43); Stab/KG 1 (Nov 43 – Jun 44); I./KG 1 (Nov 43 – Mar 44); I./JG 3 (Mar-Jun 44); II./KG 1 (Apr-Jun 44); Wekusta 2 Ob.d.L. (Apr-Jul, Aug-Sep 44); Stab, II./KG 3 (Jun-Jul 44); II./KG 76 (Aug 44 – Mar 45); III./KG 66 (Oct-Nov 44); II./KG 200 (Nov 44 – Jan 45); Sonderkdo. Welter (Nov 44 – Jan 45); III./KG 76 (Dec 44 – Mar 45); 10./NJG 11 (Jan-Apr 45); Sonderkdo. Braunegg (Mar 45); 2./NAGr. 6 (Mar-Apr 45); 2./JG 7 (Apr 45).
School Units: FFS C 16 then FFS B 16 (May 40 – Apr 45).
Station Commands: Fl.H.Kdtr. Burg (to early 1943); Fl.Pl.Kdo. A 28/III (early 43 – Mar 44); Fl.H.Kdtr. A(o) 14/III (Apr 44 – Apr 45).
Kommandant (prior to the establishment of a numbered station command – not complete): Obstlt. Friedrich Morzik (Nov 39 - ? ).
Burg bei Magdeburg, Germany - Airfield as seen today
Image courtesy of Google Earth Pro™