Asch

Airfield

media-395955.jpg FRE 7229 A P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed "Magic Carpet" of the 366th Fighter Group, in the snow. Lt Colonel Harold Holt’s “Magic Carpet” of the 390th Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. On January 1, 1945, green pilot Bob Brulle flew his bosses ride off the primitive runway Y-29 near Asche, Belgium, when the Luftwaffe descended. Operation Bodenplatte, a daring (and foolhardy) plan to disrupt Allied air superiority during the Battle of the Bulge, was underway. Brulle bagged a FW190. Roger Freeman Collection

http://www.ww2incolor.com

Object Number - FRE 7229 - A P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed "Magic Carpet" of the 366th Fighter Group, in the snow. Lt Colonel Harold Holt’s “Magic Carpet” of the 390th...

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Detailed History

Its facilities consisted of a tent city, an access road to the existing road infrastructure, a dump containing fuel, food, water and ammunition, and en minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.

Asch was home to the USAAF 352FG (P-51 Mustangs) and 366FG (P-47 Thunderbolts) between 19 November 1944 and 11 April 1945.

Between 8 February and 15 April 1945 it also based 406FG (P-47 Thunderbolts).

These units were all tasked with disrupting German operations ahead of the beachhead, strafing anything german they encountered.

On the start of Operation Bodenplatte (the German counterattack through the Ardennes) on 1 January 1945 Asch was the site of a major aerial battle, which later became known as "The Legend of Asch".

When the fighter units moved out Asch became home to 391BG (B-26 Marauders) until 27 May 1947.

With the end of the war in Europe the airfield was closed and abandoned on 20 June 1945.

Today, nothing but a small memorial reminds of the airfield, which is partly in a wooded area at Zutendaal Air Base, and partly at the other end of Highway E314.