Dubendorf

Airfield
A B-17 Flying Fortress (QJ-D, serial number 42-32073) formerly of the 337th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, in service with the Swiss Air Force. Handwritten caption on reverse: '42-32073, Dübendorf, 13-4-44.' media-408584.jpg FRE 3942 A B-17 Flying Fortress (QJ-D, serial number 42-32073) formerly of the 337th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, in service with the Swiss Air Force. Handwritten caption on reverse: '42-32073, Dübendorf, 13-4-44.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 3942 - A B-17 Flying Fortress (QJ-D, serial number 42-32073) formerly of the 337th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, in service with the Swiss Air Force....

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Detailed History

The search for a suitable site for an airfield started in 1909. [1] On 1 August 1910 geography improvement of the swamp started and on 22 October 1910 the first airshow was held on the Airfield Dübendorf. Since 1914 Dübendorf has been used as an air base by the Swiss Air Force.[2] From 1919 on Dübendorf was also an airport for civil airlines, first for the predecessor of the Swissair, the Ad Astra Aero, and from 1932 on for Swissair.



During World War II there was virtually no civil flight activity. Any foreign military aircraft that was interned by Switzerland was held at Dübendorf, including about 120 US B-17s and B-24s, together with one German Me 262. From 1943 Switzerland shot down American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland during World War II: six aircraft by Swiss Air Force fighters and nine by anti-aircraft cannons; 36 American and British airmen were killed. Besides, there were 137 emergency landings to May 1945 resulting in about 120 US aircraft that were interned at the Dübendorf airfield. The officers were interned in Davos, airmen in Adelboden. Although US military attaché Barnwell Legge instructed the soldiers not to flee, many soldiers ignored his warning; after their escape from the internment camps, the airmen usually were detained in the Wauwilermoos penal camp near Luzern.[3][4] Repaired by USAF technicians, on 7 September 1945 around 60 US aircraft started from Dübendorf to return to their bases,[3] where they were scrapped.[5] The Swiss Air Force used in this time Me-109E, Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and so on.



After World War II, civil aviation moved to the new Zurich Airport, opened in 1948, and Dübendorf became a purely military airfield. Dübendorf had been considered for expansion as Switzerland's primary international airport, but the Federal government reportedly preferred the development of a new Zurich airport for dedicated civil use for technical reasons including the difficulties inherent in a shared military and civil facility.[6]

People

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Unit: 44th Bomb Group 67th Bomb Squadron
A B-24 Liberator (RR-E+, serial number 42-100332) nicknamed "Galloping Katie" of the 389th Bomb Group makes a forced landing in Switzerland with a damaged engine, 16 March 1944. Handwritten caption on reverse: '16/3/44, 202. 201/RF WDLOV, 389BG, B-24, Limping into Switzerland and skidding to a stop. Galloping Katie skids in Dübendorf airfield, Switzerland, 16/3/44.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Gallloping Katie
  • Unit: 389th Bomb Group 566th Bomb Squadron
42-100400
  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron
A P-51 Mustang (WD-U, 42-106438) of the 335th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, flown by Lieutenant Curtis Simpson, after a forced landing in Switzerland, 19 July 1944. "P.51B Mustang , coded WD-U, right side three-quarter view, with mountainous background, which I said was in neutral country. It was, in fact, Switzerland, when Lt. Curtis Simpson was forced to abort a mission to Munich on 19th July, 1944, following a glycol leak." Information from Debden historian Keith Braybrooke
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Unit: 4th Fighter Group 335th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 710th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
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Sources

"Strangers In A Strange Land - Volume II" - Hans-Heiri Stapfer/Gino Kunzle

Date
Contributor466thHistorian
Changes
Date
Contributor466thHistorian
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Dubendorf: Gallery (15 items)