St Trond

Airfield
Personnel of the 48th Fighter Group in St Trond. Written on slide casing: '48 FG, St Trond.' media-396231.jpg FRE 7057 Personnel of the 48th Fighter Group in St Trond. Written on slide casing: '48 FG, St Trond.' Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 7057 - Personnel of the 48th Fighter Group in St Trond. Written on slide casing: '48 FG, St Trond.'

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Detailed History

Air Base Brustem/Sint-Truiden (Dutch: vliegveld Brustem/St.-Truiden, also known as Air Base St.Trond and ALG A-92 St.-Trond, ICAO: EBST) was a military airfield operated by the Belgian Air Force. Starting from 1936 and being nothing more than a grass field, it served as an emergency airfield for the 3rd and 4th squadrons of the Second Fighter Regiment, stationed at Nivelles (Nijvel).

Occupied by the Germans on 12 May 1940, major construction works took place in 1941 and 1942. During World War II, Brustem was the home base for one of the most famous Luftwaffe Nightfighter Wings, NJG1, with units II/NJG1 (6 March 1942 - March 1944) and IV/NJG1 (March 1944 - September 1944) operating predominantly Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighters. Its most highest scoring German night fighter pilot, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (121 air victories) was referred to as "the Ghost of St. Trond" by British Bomber crews that flew over Germany on night bombing raids.

After the war, the population of the area told a story about the "Spook" Pilot of Brustem, a story that supposedly really happened. The story (as told in a war time poem (in Dutch)) tells of an Allied pilot that wreaked havoc at Brustem. In a PS at the end of the poem lies the clue: the Spook was not one, but two pilots, actually twin pilots from Poland, both flying with the RAF. In reality the airbase was a regular target for RAF intruder missions.

Major allied bombing attacks on the airfield took place on 25 February 1944, 09 May 1944 and 14 June 1944 while the largest bombing attack occurred on 15 August 1944 when the airbase was bombed by 100 Lancasters from No.3 Group (RAF), following the marking by 9 Lancasters of 582 Squadron (No.8 Group Pathfinder Force, RAF).



Sint-Truiden (St.-Trond) was liberated by the US First Army on 8 September 1944. The 834th Aviation Engineer Battalion arrived at the airbase on 15 September 1944. On 30 September 1944 they declared the airbase operational as Advanced Landing Ground A-92. A-92 St.-Trond served as a homebase for:

404th Fighter Group, 30 September 1944 - 04 April 1945, equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt.

48th Fighter Group, 02 October 1944 - 30 March 1945, equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt.

386th Bombardment Group, 05 April - 15 July 1945, equipped with A-26 Invader.

305th Bombardment Group, 20 July 1945 - 15 December 1945, equipped with B-17/F-9C for photo mapping operations ("Casey Jones Project").

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 508th Fighter Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 508th Fighter Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 507th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-774001
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-25815
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 386th Bomb Group 553rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-410197
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Snortin Bull
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 507th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Elsie
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 507th Fighter Group
A P-47 Thunderbolt (7J-V, serial number 42-29140) of the 404th Fighter Group in flight over Belgium, March 1945. Image via Steve Sheflin. Written on slide casing: 'Col Leon Moon, 404th Ftr Grp.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 404th Fighter Group 508th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 48th Fighter Group 464th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: A-26 Invader
  • Unit: 386th Bomb Group 555th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

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Histor Center Airbase Brustem

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Histor Center Airbase Brustem

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ContributorLucy May
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Associated photos captioned 'St Trond'

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Histor Center Airbase Brustem

St Trond: Gallery (18 items)