Fluglehrzentrum F-4F

Origin and first time military use of today's Air Base as airfield during the Third Reich's Luftwaffe

In the history of military aviation, Hopsten AB has been well known for more than half a Century. The area was used long before the Second World War as an airfield for the locally based fighter and bomber units. In 1938, the military leadership ordered the construction of a small airfield - then only measuring 200 hectares - in the vicinity of Dreierwalde. The construction on the state-owned land was managed and surveyed by the Luftbauamt 6 in Münster. Known under the designation "Rheiner Bauabschnitt 2", the airfield project was to receive three runways. The paved main east-west runway had a length of 1.800 meters. The other two runways run from north to south and from southwest to northeast, each of these was 1.000 meters and destined for use mainly by fighter units. After the completion of the new airfield in 1939, it was difficult to choose a name for the base as the Citizens of Dreierwalde refused to allow the use of their village name for the installation. Only after a further extension of the area between 1940 and 1944, lengthening the main runway to 3.000 meters into the boundary of the village of Hopsten, was the name Hopsten AB adopted and remains to this date. The map shows the east-west direction of the main runway between the villages of Hopsten and Dreierwalde as well as the other two runways running north to south and southwest to northeast. On official opening day of the airfield, October 25, 1939, the 1. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 27 (lead by Hauptmann Riegel) transferred 48 Me 109E-1 from Münster-Handorf to Hopsten. Led by its first Kommodore - Oberstleutnant Max Ibel, the unit was ready for the so called "Reichsverteidigung", (i.e. the defence of the Reich). Because of political and Strategic changes Hopsten AB played only a secondary role as an operational base for the Luftwaffe in the opening stages of the Second World War. In the years between 1939 and 1944, the base was used only for short periods by different day and night fighter units as well as various bomber wings. This time was used to further extend the air base. During this phase expropriations took place in the nearby villages of Hopsten and Hörstel. In the northern part of the airfield, between Dreierwalde and Hopsten, new housing for the base administration was set up, as well as additional ramp space and taxiways for aircraft.

When the NAZI-Regime became was forced on the defence, the tranquility of the first years of the war was to change for Hopsten. In Summer 1944 it became clear that the location of Hopsten AB was an asset in the air defence of the Reich. From fall of 1944 onwards, Hopsten AB became a hub for a multitude of Luftwaffe activity. Daily operations were conducted with famous aircraft such as the Bf 109. Bf 110, Heinkel He 111, He 219 and Focke Wulf 190. Starting in September 1944, the Me 262 equipped Kampfgeschwader 51 "Edelweiß" was based at Hopsten and flew among other missions, against the allied occupied air base of Ath-Chievrés near Mons, Belgium, where the unit had been based just weeks before. From December 1944 the 6. Kampfgeschwader 76 with the Reconnaissance Group "Sperling" equipped with Arado Ar 234 jets was also based at Hopsten. At first, the unit was mainly used in the reconnaissance role but later they were also used on attack mis­sions on the bridge over the Rhine near Remagen. The almost complete air superiority of the Allies over German air defences made even these technically advanced flights very risky. In the end, the take-offs and landings of the jets had to be covered by large numbers of conventional fighters to guarantee minimum chances of success. A number of fighter units were used to protect the jets in their most critical flying phases of take-off and landing against allied fighter and bombers. Employed units were:
- II./Jagdgeschwader 1 from Drope near Lingen.
- III./Jagdgeschwader 1 from Rheine-Bentlage AB.
- Stab and I./Jagdgeschwader 26 from Drope and Fürstenau,
- II./Jagdgeschwader 26 from Nordhorn,
- III./Jagdgeschwader 26 from Plantlünne,
- Stab and l./Jagdgeschwader 27 from Rheine-Bentlage,
- II./ Jagdgeschwader 27 based locally at Hopsten,
- III./ Jagdgeschwader 27 from Hesepe,
- IV./ Jagdgeschwader 27 from Achmer and
- III./ Jagdgeschwader 54 "Grünherz" with its JG 190D-9 from Varrelbusch, Vörden and Fürstenau.

The end of the Luftwaffe could be seen to emerge after the January 1, 1945. With the remaining pilots and aircraft “Unternehmen Bodenplatte” was launched. The objective of the Operation was to decimate the allied aviation units on the ground within the liberated parts of Western Europe with fighter-bombers, during on early morning massive air strike. The allied numeric air superiority, inexperience of the young German pilots and the lack of advance knowledge of the Operation being given to German anti-aircraft defence units made this insane Operation a huge failure. After this operation the remainder of Kampfgeschwader 51 “Edelweiß” with its Me 262 aircraft was transferred from Rheine-Hopsten to Giebelstadt on March 30, 1945. Until the occupation of the base in early April 1945, Jagdgeschwader 26 with its late Version Bf 109G/K and Jg 190A, Jagdgeschwader 27 with Messerschmitt Bf 109G/K and parts of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 equipped with Bf 110 and He 219 were also based at Hopsten.
Towards the end of the war, Hopsten Air Base was a frequent target for allied air raids. But due to the extremely heavy air defence - with up to 500 AAA guns based in the vicinity of the base - and the fast repairs done to the runways, it remained relatively intact. Good camouflage and widely dispersed aircraft parking kept the airfield operational until the occupation by British troops. During the last days of the war, German units destroyed the infrastructure and made the airfield useless. The hand-over of Hopsten AB to advancing allied troops happened without further fighting on April 6, 1945. The Allies decided to abandon the area, as it could no longer be used for flying activities and handed it back to the local population for agricultural use.

After the complete collapse of the regime of the so-called "Third Reich", and the subsequent division of Germany among the victorious nations, the territories of the three western occupied zones saw the formation of the Federal Republic of Germany with a liberal and democratic fundamental order and the GDR (German Democratic Republic) ruled by a social-communist government intensively linked to the Soviet Union. Ten years after the war, the young Federal Republic, under the control of the Western Powers, formed its own Armed Forces to defend the democratic principles and freedom. In 1956, only a few months after the establishment of the Bundeswehr, the new Luftwaffe began to set up new units and therefore needed airfields. In 1959, three years later, the German Defence Ministry decided to use the area of the former Hopsten AB to build the youngest base of the Luftwaffe on an area of land measuring 306 acres.
Paid with NATO funds, specialized companies from the region were tasked to build a completely new air base to modern NATO Standards, The north to south runway was 3.000 meters long and 30 meters wide, was constructed between the villages of Dreierwalde and Hopsten in the North and Hörstel in the South. Ramp space, airfield infrastructure and roads, as well as a housing and administration complex in the city of Rheine eight kilometers away, were completed to new NATO Standards for Western Europe. The old name of Hopsten Air Base was maintained.
In April 1961, Jagdbombergeschwader 31 (Fighter Bomber Wing 31) at Nörvenich AB was tasked to provide a detachment of 40 men with the necessary equipment. These “men of the first hour” of Jagdbombergeschwader 36 were to work hard to improvise, under the command of the first CO Major Wilhelm Meyn. Improvisation was the rule of the day. For instance, as only one tool kit was available it was soon found out that certain screws on the F-84F "Thunderstreak" could also be turned with coins.

In 1944 the KG 51 (Kampfgeschwader) "Edelweiß" was based at Hopsten with their ME262

F-84F "Thunderstreak" of the JaboG36

On March 1, 1961 the first flying squadron of a new wing was set up at Nörvenich AB. This was followed by the transfer of more than 50 Republic F-84F “Thunderstreak” fighter-bombers to Hopsten from the local Jagdbombergeschwader 31. As the fighter-bomber units of the Luftwaffe were designated in the 30-range and the designators 31-35 were already taken, the new unit consequently received the number 36.
The new Jagdbombergeschwader 36 completely deployed to the NATO training base of Decimomannu in Sardinia, Italy, from April to August 31, 1961. Here the pilot training of the then still unofficially designated “Westfalen-Geschwader” commenced. On September 1, 1961, one day after its return from Sardinia the 1. flying squadron of the new wing was assigned to NATO with the mission of close air Support.
One of the first highlights of the youngest wing of the Luftwaffe came in December 12, 1961. The Inspector General of the Luftwaffe, Lieutenant General Josef Kammhuber acting for the Secretary of Defence Dr. Franz-Josef Strauss formally activated the new Jagdbombergeschwader 36 (JaboG 36) with a ceremonious roll call at Hopsten AB. Among the guests were the General of the Luftwaffengruppe Nord, Harlinghausen, as well as the Commander of the 2nd Allied Air Fleet, Air Marshall Sir John Grandy plus numerous distinguished guests.
Only a couple of weeks after the unit's activation, the German Defence Ministry ordered the formation of a second squadron on January 19, 1962. The aircraft inventory was divided accordingly for the two flying squadrons. This 2./JaboG 36 received a Special task within the Luftwaffe. Its primary mission was to prepare newly trained F-84F pilots of the Luftwaffe, coming directly from their training in the USA, to the weather conditions in central Europe and to conduct initial weapons training. For this task the squadron received six Lockheed T-33A trainers in mid 1962. Two light Piaggio P.149D four-seater Utility aircraft were also assigned for liaison purposes, completing the aircraft inventory of JaboG 36.
Three months after the official activation, the unit suffered its first loss when Feldwebel Helmut Korstick crashed on a training flight near Westerkappeln on March 30, 1962. He was not able to use the ejection seat and sadly perished. Shock and deep mourning overshadowed the wing.

After the majority of the buildings in the housing area on the Schorlemerstrasse in Rheine were completed. The Wing held its first Open House on June 16, 1962. A crowd of 150.000 visitors attended from the Münster region, acknowledging the achievements of the wing personnel during the build-up phase. The first German air base build strictly to NATO Standards received a new feature on July 23, 1962. The Commander of the technical group, Major Hubert Lange accepted into operation the emergency arresting gear of the base. With the tail hook of the aircraft and an arresting cable system across the runway it was now possible to recover aircraft with technical problems that otherwise would have not been able to safely stop on the runway.

Effective on March 13, 1963, the design of a wing coat-of-arms was approved by Luftwaffe Headquarters. The new badge of JaboG 36 was to adorn the fins of the “Thunderstreaks”. The badge displays the rampant horse of Westphalia on a red and blue background signifying the unit's bonds to the region of Westphalia and its population. The blue stands for the sky and red symbolizes the soil of Westphalia. This badge was to survive all later restructurings of the unit: from Jagdbombergeschwader 36 to the later Jagdgeschwader 72 “Westfalen” and on to today's Fluglehrzentrum F-4F. It still signifies a strong and well known link between the airmen and the population of Westphalia.
Together with the continuation of the construction in the housing area in Rheine, an ammunition depot was built in 1963, near Uthuisen about 3 km south of the air base and a fuel depot on the northern perimeter of the airfield between the villages Dreierwalde and Hopsten. The ammunition depot was to gain great importance three months later.

Another challenge came between June 12 and 16, 1963, when JaboG 36, organized the first "Tactical Weapons Meet" on German soil. More than 250 airmen from six nations took part in this exercise for fighter-bomber pilots of 2 ATAF / Allied Tactical Air Force (North) and 4 ATAF (South) to be evaluated in more than 220 missions. The attack program comprised of attacking ground targets with rockets and guns, the dropping of bombs from low-level and the simulated use of nuclear weapons on the nearby bombing and gunnery range Engedener Wüste near Nordhorn. The coveted "Broadhurst Trophy" was won by the team of Escadre de Chasse 3 from St. Dizier AB (France) with their F-100S. More important than the ranking. was the fact that JaboG 36 was able to organize an exercise in a short time frame after activation and at the same time, was able to demonstrate a high aircraft availability rate. The commitment of the Technical Group under the leadership of Major Hubert Lange achieved JaboG 36 the reputation of excellent readiness. Following the “Tactical Weapons Meeting” the first evaluation of JaboG 36 by NATO took place. This so called "Tactical Evaluation" (TacEval) was passed with a good "B-Rating".