Aerodrome A-6 La Londe

Code: FRISKY
Length 5000 feet.
Width 120m.
Surface : SMT.
Standard use R/R ( Refueling and rearming ).
Engineer unit : 819 EAB.
Command : Lt Col. Max G. McCrory

Operational period: June 15, 1944 to September 18, 1944.

After landing on UTAH Beach on June 6 and the creation of the first ELS1 Pouppeville airstrip, the 819th Engineer Aviation Battalion sent a reconnaissance team under Master Sergeant Charles A. Lane to St Martin de Varreviille to examine two sites. Lane to St Martin de Varreviille to examine two sites. The "La Londe" farm was chosen, a flat area on the road between Beuzeville au Plain and Sainte Mère Eglise.

So it was that on the morning of June 8, a fifty-strong unit of Sappers set off for the chosen site, arriving at 10 a.m. in the thick of the fighting to start work. After a day, the track was practically operational, but the battalion counted 7 KIA engineers (killed in action).

This configuration will be completed on June 14. It should be noted that on June 10, 3 Spihires from the British 2nd Tactical Air Force landed, followed on June 11 by the first American aircraft and 5 Wacco gliders filled with ammunition for the Paras of the 82nd Airborne, fighting nearby at La Fière.

The high command asked the engineer engineers to transform the R/R airfield into a Supply and Evacuation airfield, so that wounded paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne, which had paid a heavy price in the fighting at La Fière, could be repatriated as quickly as possible using C47s.

From June 17 onwards, the machines apply 10m2 of SMT mesh per hour, so it takes a week to cover a 1,200-metre runway and 10 days for a 1,500-metre runway. 2,560 rolls of SMT are needed to create a runway, but once in place, the SMT runways are rendered unusable for glider landings, at the risk of seeing them capsize if the skids get stuck in the covering mesh.

The A-6 will allow the arrival of the 371st Fighter squadron and their P-47 from June 17 to 23.

On July 3, the entire 371st Fighter Group leaves England for the A-6.

The squadron's headquarters are set up in the farmhouse at La Londe, with a chapel in the barn. An advanced echelon of the 394th Squadron arrives on July 20 to prepare for the arrival of its P-38 Lightnings, the first of which will land on June 27 and remain on the A-6 until August 14.

The entire site was returned to its owners on September 18, 1944.

Text by Brice Monroig