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Orly Air Base
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Orly Air Base
Orly Air Base was a United States Air Force Facility during the early part of the Cold War, located at Aéroport de Paris-Orly, 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Paris, France. The American Air Base was located on the north side of the airport, in an area east of the current-day Val-de-Marne/Essonne.
The facility was first developed as a military airfield by the Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. With the end of the war, in 1920 it was eventually developed into a civil airport. After the 1940 Battle of France, the occupying German Luftwaffe seized the facility and used it as a military airfield. In 1944, the Germans were driven out and it subsequently became an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) designated A-47 for the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force.
Rebuilt after the war as a joint civil/military airfield, the primary use of the base was to support Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Rocquencourt. Secondary functions were as a personnel processing center for inbound and outbound personnel assigned to France, and as a limited operational transport base. In 1967 the American military facilities were closed as a result of France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command.
Paris Orly Airport's beginnings date to World War I, and the entry of the United States into the conflict on the Western Front. The Air Service, United States Army had no suitable combat aircraft of its own when it entered the conflict in April 1917, In order to provide an effective contribution to the Allied war effort, it would be required to obtain front-line combat aircraft from its British and French allies. As nearly all of the French aircraft factories were in the Paris area at the time, a place was necessary for the American Air Service to receive aircraft from the French manufacturers in the Paris area where they could be inspected, tested, equipped and be sent to the front line combat units.
A joint French and American military team inspected various locations in the Paris area. A suitable location of four fields was located on the Fontainebleau Road, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of the center of Paris, and 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) northeast of the suburb of Orly. Today the location is part of the Greater City of Paris, the location of its headquarters being on the north side of the present-day Orly Airport in a built-up area at the southeast corner of the intersection of the Avenue de L'Europe and Rue d'Amsterdam (48°44′20″N 002°22′11″E / 48.73889°N 2.36972°E),.
The American Aviation Acceptance Park was formally established on 31 March 1918, when the 6th Company, 2d Regiment Air Service mechanics arrived from the 2d Air Instructional Center at Tours Aerodrome in central France in twenty-five trucks, and established themselves on the field. At the time there were only two wooden barracks partially completed at the site and it was not yet ready for use. The Americans slept in their trucks that night, being awakened at 2:30am by a German air raid by Gotha bombers. Later that day, the Americans completed the two barracks and started construction on a third one. Eventually the facility was converted into a large aviation facility generally known as Orly Aerodrome, with scores of buildings, 78 aircraft hangars, several kilometres of cinder and gravel roads, water, sewer, electrical, and telephone facilities. On Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, there were 323 officers and 2,283 enlisted men assigned.
The organizational structure included three main groups: Airplane Operations; Engineering, and Post Operations, which were, in turn, sub-divided into various divisions and sections. A parts depot (Air Depot No. 4), was never developed as such, and was used basically for parts storage to support the internal operations of Orly Field. The Post Operations group was concerned with the administration of the facility, such as security, provost, fire marshal, quartermaster department, the post office (APO 702) and other miscellaneous offices. During 1918, construction was an ongoing process at Orly and the war ended before it was fully completed. The Engineering Department was responsible for the various shops needed to repair aircraft. Aircraft rigging, installing aircraft engines, overhauling engines, sheet metal fabrication, electronics, carpentry, fuselage and wing repairs, rubber and tire vulcanizing and the like were performed by the unit.
The first meaningful use of Orly Aerodrome with the arrival of the first aircraft on 6 April 1918, when three Sopwith 1A2s landed at the field from Le Bourget Airport. The first aircraft was flown out on 20 April. During the first month of operation, a total of 37 aircraft were flown from Orly to the Front and to various training schools. At this early stage of operations, there were still few personnel assigned and much of the equipment for the Park had not yet arrived. The operations were very much makeshift until June, when the number of personnel had increased and considerably more equipment was available.
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Orly Air Base
Orly Air Base was a United States Air Force Facility during the early part of the Cold War, located at Aéroport de Paris-Orly, 15 kilometres (9 mi) south of Paris, France. The American Air Base was located on the north side of the airport, in an area east of the current-day Val-de-Marne/Essonne.
The facility was first developed as a military airfield by the Air Service, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. With the end of the war, in 1920 it was eventually developed into a civil airport. After the 1940 Battle of France, the occupying German Luftwaffe seized the facility and used it as a military airfield. In 1944, the Germans were driven out and it subsequently became an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) designated A-47 for the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force.
Rebuilt after the war as a joint civil/military airfield, the primary use of the base was to support Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Rocquencourt. Secondary functions were as a personnel processing center for inbound and outbound personnel assigned to France, and as a limited operational transport base. In 1967 the American military facilities were closed as a result of France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command.
Paris Orly Airport's beginnings date to World War I, and the entry of the United States into the conflict on the Western Front. The Air Service, United States Army had no suitable combat aircraft of its own when it entered the conflict in April 1917, In order to provide an effective contribution to the Allied war effort, it would be required to obtain front-line combat aircraft from its British and French allies. As nearly all of the French aircraft factories were in the Paris area at the time, a place was necessary for the American Air Service to receive aircraft from the French manufacturers in the Paris area where they could be inspected, tested, equipped and be sent to the front line combat units.
A joint French and American military team inspected various locations in the Paris area. A suitable location of four fields was located on the Fontainebleau Road, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of the center of Paris, and 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) northeast of the suburb of Orly. Today the location is part of the Greater City of Paris, the location of its headquarters being on the north side of the present-day Orly Airport in a built-up area at the southeast corner of the intersection of the Avenue de L'Europe and Rue d'Amsterdam (48°44′20″N 002°22′11″E / 48.73889°N 2.36972°E),.
The American Aviation Acceptance Park was formally established on 31 March 1918, when the 6th Company, 2d Regiment Air Service mechanics arrived from the 2d Air Instructional Center at Tours Aerodrome in central France in twenty-five trucks, and established themselves on the field. At the time there were only two wooden barracks partially completed at the site and it was not yet ready for use. The Americans slept in their trucks that night, being awakened at 2:30am by a German air raid by Gotha bombers. Later that day, the Americans completed the two barracks and started construction on a third one. Eventually the facility was converted into a large aviation facility generally known as Orly Aerodrome, with scores of buildings, 78 aircraft hangars, several kilometres of cinder and gravel roads, water, sewer, electrical, and telephone facilities. On Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, there were 323 officers and 2,283 enlisted men assigned.
The organizational structure included three main groups: Airplane Operations; Engineering, and Post Operations, which were, in turn, sub-divided into various divisions and sections. A parts depot (Air Depot No. 4), was never developed as such, and was used basically for parts storage to support the internal operations of Orly Field. The Post Operations group was concerned with the administration of the facility, such as security, provost, fire marshal, quartermaster department, the post office (APO 702) and other miscellaneous offices. During 1918, construction was an ongoing process at Orly and the war ended before it was fully completed. The Engineering Department was responsible for the various shops needed to repair aircraft. Aircraft rigging, installing aircraft engines, overhauling engines, sheet metal fabrication, electronics, carpentry, fuselage and wing repairs, rubber and tire vulcanizing and the like were performed by the unit.
The first meaningful use of Orly Aerodrome with the arrival of the first aircraft on 6 April 1918, when three Sopwith 1A2s landed at the field from Le Bourget Airport. The first aircraft was flown out on 20 April. During the first month of operation, a total of 37 aircraft were flown from Orly to the Front and to various training schools. At this early stage of operations, there were still few personnel assigned and much of the equipment for the Park had not yet arrived. The operations were very much makeshift until June, when the number of personnel had increased and considerably more equipment was available.
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