Lorient Airbase

BeauBrummie

BeauBrummie

Home for tea and tiffin!
Clive and I have been discussing this airbase that he is producing for ETO. If you've seen Clive's screenies you'll know that it shows a fairly bombed out base with some aircraft in net hangers in the trees. My question is that with the Allies attacking it from late 1943 through to D-day, how badly affected was the base? From Chris Goss' Bloody Biscay we gather that the Gruppe was still using it as a functioning base in March '44. I can find very little information on the operation of the actual base, I have not found any images of it on the web or in the literature I have looked at yet. I look at it and wonder how V/Gruppe could operate from it, essentially by '44 was it a bombed wreak or were most of the infrastructure still in working order? I'm working on it's facilities XDP so I'm needing to know what to have on the base.

Beau

(Similar thread also posted on 12 O'clock high)
 
Thanks gentlemen. I have a few plans and images of the modern base and a plan from 1946. However ideally I'd like report of how the base funtioned after it had been bombed. It was hit by fighter bombers and by heavies over a period of about 8 months on and off. Obvously they would make repairs and rebuild, but did they operate from a half-demolished base or were repairs fully completed. It was used in this period as this staement shows:

"V/Gruppe was formed 1.43 at Kerlin-Bastar:
Stab V./KG40 new
13./KG40
14./KG40 new
15./KG40 from 10./KG40

Remained there during its existence (Fl. Fü. Atlantik), with detachments at Bordeaux-Merignac and Cognac. Only used Ju 88C fighters"

In Bay of Biscay Chris Goss has report's of operations continuing nearly up to D-day when after the unit ceased to exist.

I'll probably have to best guess from the scanty info we have.

Beau
 
View attachment 3678

This is the sort of thing I'm on about. To have some working facilities amongst the bomb damage. Here there is a blasted hanger next to a fuctioning one. The aircraft will still be dispersed under net hangers, but with some airbase buildings repaired/rebuilt. I'm having no luck at finding any info on this aspect of V/KG40's war, but I'm still looking.

Beau
 
Latest Update

Here are the fruits of last night's work. The control tower is in place and I've put in some admin/accommodation. Not having the same wealth of buildings available to the German/French bases as there is to the Allies in CFS3, I'm using a mix match of available French/German buildings. Lorient was a airbase before the Germans, but we don't have the same choice. Any suggestions on building types they would be acceptable (and available in CFS3) is appreciated.

View attachment 4710

Overview of modified area. Note the control tower to the left.

View attachment 4711

the accomodation and some admin buildings and workshops.

View attachment 4712

the same but from another angle

View attachment 4713

Close up of detail

View attachment 4714

Close up Control Tower area

From the 1946 plan it is not clear to me where the tower was then. I may have put it in the wrong place. But from some sources it seems that many buildings were destroyed by the retreating Germans as well as Allied attacks, so the '46 map may not represent the German base very much, but more the restored French post war base. I really need some clarification here.:isadizzy:
I intend to add more buildings elswhere on the site. Practically to operate the base needs munitions dumps and fuel storage, as well as more accomodation etc.

Beau
 
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