Bombs Over Biblis: The History of Biblis' WW II Airfield

Historic Aerial View of the Biblis Airfield.

As an American living in Germany, I am always amazed at the amount of history which surrounds us here. During the many hikes that I take in the region, I often encounter the remnants of times gone by, whether it be a castle, an old church, or perhaps a grave mound. Sometimes, however, the history is more recent and thus seems more vivid and alive, such on my last hike near the town of Biblis in the Hessen Ried, close to the Rhine.

This walk took me over the fields and through a bit of forest just east of Biblis. I knew from the internet that this area saw a lot of activity during World War II and that a Luftwaffe airfield had been built nearby. Luckily, the site of the airfield lay on the trail, though now it is an event and equestrian center called the Gaststätte Jägerhof. 

After my hike, I did more research and came across an interesting exert from a book by Peter Fink called "Der Flugplatz der Luftwaffe zwischen Biblis und Einhausen (1936-1945)".  What follows is a translated summary of a small section of Mr. Fink's book related to the airfield.

In 1936, Biblis, like quite a few other communities in the Rhein-Main area had been chosen as the site of a military airfield. Military administration had specific requirements when choosing sites for a such a facility.  For example, the airfield would have to be located near a railway line, and there had to be the possibility to lay down access roads. Building plans must include the possibility to have a tank facility and agricultural buildings should be included for both camouflage and to provide for the needs of those stationed at the airfield. There were also rules regarding the connection of electricity, the installation of drains and the ability to expand buildings.

At the same time as construction was occurring in Biblis, airfields were being built in other parts of the Rhine-Main area, for example at Geinsheim, Darmstadt-Griesheim, Gross-Ostheim and Zellhausen. In addition, mock airfields were created for camouflage. One such facility was located just south of the Boxheimer Hof winery in Abenheim, near Worms.

In the late autumn of 1936, work began, providing employment for many of the local citizens. 135 hectares of forest was cleared. The area was then plowed and leveled, using huge steam plows made by the company Ottomeier from Bad Pyrmont. Subsequently, drainage pipes were installed on the entire site and a sewer system was built with collection tanks and a pumping system, which directed the accumulated water into the Weschnitz River. At that time, the Hessen Ried did not benefit from the drainage system it has today, and the area was still quite marshy and wet. The groundwater lay no further than a meter underground and could often be found just a few decimeters below the surface, making construction difficult and the need for adequate drainage extremely important.

It was not until 1940 that the airfield at Biblis was reported as complete. The announcement listed the various components which had been constructed up to that point, including: runways, washrooms, latrines, a canteen, a kitchen, sleeping barracks for both officers and men, roads, railway platforms, as well as, the drainage system. There were also nearby fuel storage tanks, munition stores, underground bunkers, anti-aircraft towers, and a beacon system. A barn and farmstead, built to appear as a typical Hessen farm, are also reported to have been constructed. Though the airfield was listed as complete at that time, it was under constant expansion during most of the war, including the addition of landing facilities for night flights and the lengthening of runways.

Planes at the Biblis Airfield

The airfield was occupied during the war by a number of military and civilian units, including a transport squadron made up of Junker JU-52 aircraft and Savoia-Marchetti S. M. 81s.  These planes were used for material and ambulance transport, though the Savoias were also used as bombers. Shortly before the end of the war (between October 1944 and March 1945), the world's first jet-powered bomber aircraft, the Arado Ar 234, was also in use at Biblis.

Witnesses observed that in the summer of 1940, between 30 to 40 Do-17 bombers flew west each day on bombing campaigns in France. The Do-17, also known as the Fliegender Bleistift ("flying pencil"), was designed as a Schnellbomber ("fast bomber"), which, in theory, was so fast that it could outrun defending fighter aircraft.  

Do-17s or Fliegender Bleistifte

A complete list of squadrons stationed at Biblis is no longer available; however,  it is known that parts of the Ace Squadron, in which well-known fighter pilot, Werner Mölders, was assigned, were temporarily stationed in Biblis. Adolf Galland, another highly decorated Luftwaffe officer, inspected the airfield and pilots there. Also, Metz Battle Squadron 103 trained in Biblis with Junker Ju 87 planes. During their training, the pilots threw down concrete bombs in fields and on the eastern slope of Sachsenbuckel as practice. 

The men from these squadrons were often housed in private quarters throughout the region. For example, in the winter of 1945, airmen were housed in private homes and in the school halls at Langwadan and Fehlheim. In Zwingenberg, other Luftwaffe units were quartered in the school and in an inn. The 1st group of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 11 was a unit specially set up for "Mosquito Hunting", which was to hunt down the very fast, all-purpose British de Havilland aircraft. The fliers from this unit, four officers and 40 men, were initially quartered in Auerbach and Upper Hambach, but were later housed in the hotel "Hufnagel" in Seeheim.

Of course having so many military facilities in the area attracted enemy attention and bombing was inevitable, as were crashes involving both enemy and German aircraft. At the beginning of the war, fallen enemy pilots were still buried with military honors, such as in the case of a French pilot who was downed in 1940 in Gernsheim. Later, however, foreign airmen who crashed or were shot down often had to fear for their lives because the population, upset over attacks on cities and civilians, would shoot or lynch any enemy pilots they found. German pilots sometimes had difficulties when they had to disembark, as well, because the civilian population did not immediately realize that they were pilots of the Luftwaffe.

Dogfights and air raids were a common sight for the area's civilian population. On April 13, 1944, eight to nine aircraft, presumably coming from Mainz, attacked an American bomber group that struck Schweinfurt. After a dogfight, two B-17 bombers crashed in Lautertal near Elmshausen and Reichenbach, and a German plane crashed between Zell and Hambach.

On January 29, 1944, four boys between the ages of 10 and 13 were killed in an attack on Groß-Rohrheim. On the 16th of May 1944, Lampertheim was bombed, and in June 1944, the Allies attacked the Biblis airbase, resulting in  five deaths and the destruction of three transport vehicles. The following day, there were three additional bombing attacks on Langwaden. On July 21, 1944, the Biblis airbase was again attacked, this time by five American P-51 Mustang fighters with on-board weapons, and on September 27, 1944 at midday, there was a bombing raid on the airfield, leaving behind four dead and two wounded. Five planes were either destroyed or damaged. On the 8th and 15th of October in the same year, there were renewed attacks on the airfield in Biblis, resulting in more damage.

Around the turn of the year 1944/45, a hospital train was attacked in or near Bensheim station, and on February 14, 1945 a train between Heppenheim and Laudenbach was also bombed. In fact, there were so many raids that railway transport soon became possible only at night; however, this did not always prevent tragedy. In the night of February 16, 1945, there was an attack on a train 500 meters away from Gross Rohrheim in which 13 people lost their life. From the summer of 1944, it also became very dangerous for the rural population to work the fields, and it was often reported that American airmen would target civilians.

The last two years of the war saw an ever-increasing frequency of bomb attacks. On Christmas eve in 1944, a total of 864 bombers left southeast England headed for western Germany. The aircraft planned for Biblis flew over the Taunus, and then turned east to the Vogelsberg and over Frankfurt before beginning their bombing campaign over the Hessen Ried. The British bombers were aided by 100 bombers (Boeing B17) from the American 3rd Air Division and 42 escort aircraft, probably fighter-bombers and scouts. This division participated in the bombing of Biblis, as well as, attacks on Babenhausen, Zellhausen, Groß-Ostheim and Darmstadt-Griesheim. 

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

The American bombers came from the north, arriving in Biblis at around 2.30 in the afternoon and dropped 325.8 tons of bombs on the airfield and its surroundings. The bombs fell on the runways, fields and forest, with over 300 explosions on the runway alone. American records indicate that at least seven Me 109s were destroyed, and more were damaged; however, the Americans did not get away unscathed as two of their own planes were shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. 

After hostile attacks such as this, the population of the surrounding area were made to help repair the resulting damage. Local citizens, as well as, inmates in various prison camps were forced to participate, such as Russians and Poles from a camp near Groß-Hausen and Greeks from a camp near the Biblis railroad crossing to Wattenheim. Unfortunately for the laborers, another attack came on Christmas day when they were busy making the repairs, killing and wounding some of the workers.

As the allies advanced, the occupation of the airfield became ever more dangerous, and, eventually, more and more movable components were transferred from the airfield to the surrounding villages and preparations were made for evacuation. Then, on March 10, 1945, the order was issued: "Prepare all places west of Bad Homburg - Offenbach - Dieburg - Eberbach for short-term and lasting destruction, remove material and equipment." 

It was reported on March 17, 1945, that the company stationed at the airfield left Biblis at 13:55. On March 20, at 16:05, the order was given to begin the repatriation of the soldiers and female personnel stationed in Biblis itself, and on March 21, it was reported that Biblis was no longer occupied by Luftwaffe Command West. 

German infantry and antiaircraft fighters continued, however, to resist the Allied advancement in the area; though they, too, were soon forced to withdraw, and on Monday, March 26th, German soldiers blew up the Weschnitz bridge, the jetty and the bridge over the motorway in their retreat west. 

The American 850th Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived at the airfield on the 1st of April 1945, and by the next day they had laid down a 1,500 square meter mesh track and sod runway, using the captured army buildings as a support area. The airfield was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-78 Biblis" and was the first airfield built to support the Seventh Army operations east of the Rhine after two divisions crossed the river near Worms on March 25th. 

The American Twelfth Air Force 27th Fighter Bomber Group moved in almost immediately with its A-36 Apache ground-attack aircraft and began flying missions in the Ruhr. The 27th attacked enemy troop formations, motorized vehicles, armored vehicles and bridges to keep the German forces pinned down while the United States First and Ninth Armies moved up to meet the British XXIst Army Group coming down from the north. By April 4th, the encirclement was complete, eventually forcing the surrender of over 300,000 German troops and their equipment. This victory eliminated serious opposition by the German Armed forces in Western Germany. The 27th Fighter Bomber Group remained at Biblis, supporting American troops as they advanced eastward, before closing the airfield in July of 1945.  

After the war, civilians in the area wanted to rebuild structures which had been damaged during the war, and the use of rubble and other materials from the destroyed airfield offered a practical solution. Many houses were rebuilt using material from the airfield and the mats used for the runways were often re-purposed as garden fences. 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transmitter site, Biblis

In 1951 the western part of the airfield site was leased to the National Committee for a Free Europe, New York, and permission for a transmitter was soon granted. The building which houses these operations was constructed out of some of the rubble from the airfield buildings and is still in use today. From this station, the propaganda channel for Eastern Europe, Radio Free Europe, was transmitted. 

Remnants of this tragic history can still be seen in the forests and fields surrounding the site of the old airfield. If you would like to know more about the history of the area during the second World War, you can take a walk over near Biblis, but be sure to stick to the footpaths, as live munitions are still sometimes found in the area.  Much more information is also available in Mr. Fink's book (written in German). 

Sources:

“Einsatzhafen Der Luftwaffe Bei Biblis.” Morr-Siedelsbrunn - Einsatzflughafen Biblis, www.morr-siedelsbrunn.de/wkii/einsatzflughafen-biblis/.

Fink, Peter. Der Flugplatz Der Luftwaffe Zwischen Biblis Und Einhausen.