The RAF station that was at the frontline of Allied defences during the Cold War

WHENEVER the RAF’s post-war presence in Germany is analysed, the main focus traditionally falls on the four locations near the Dutch border that were created in the 1950s – Wildenrath, Geilenkirchen, Brüggen and Laarbruch – and not the station that was arguably the most important RAF site geographically, situated around 130 miles east of the so-called clutch stations. 

RAF Gütersloh Station Sign Available to Purchase Here

It was 79 years ago that the military airfield at Gütersloh was captured by US forces, a key location in the North Rhine-Westphalia that formed part of the Defense of the Reich rearguard aerial campaign fought by the Luftwaffe; the site transferring from US control to the RAF in June 1945. 

While Gütersloh at the time may have been considered as just another airfield for the Allies to commandeer, the Cold War increased its importance dramatically, the airfield becoming the nearest RAF station to the border with East Germany. 

At its peak post-war military use, Gütersloh was home to two QRA, Quick Reaction Alert, squadrons flying the English Electric Lightning at the frontline of Western defences against the threat of attack from the Soviet Bloc – Nos. 19 and 92; the fast jets would be airborne within minutes if any potential aerial danger heading from the east was identified.

The station itself dates back to mid-1930s, its military background seeing both the German Army and the Luftwaffe utilising the airfield, its importance to Germany increasing as the war progressed and the need for defensive air cover became all too clear as the Allied bombardment intensified; Soviet PoWs were used as slave labour to extend the runway during WWII, with a memorial built to acknowledge that fact at the station.

During the latter part of the Second World War, as targets close to Gütersloh were identified and attacked, Junkers Ju 88 night fighters at the site were on constant standby to attempt to repel the barrage of aircraft that rained bombs down on both military and industrial targets. 

The significance of the airfield to the Luftwaffe, and especially to its Commander-in-chief, Hermann Göring, was made clear by Hitler’s right-hand man having his own room at Gütersloh, which became the RAF officers’ mess, complete with a bending wooden beam that Göring would utilise when recanting tales of his exploits as a WWI pilot ace to new recruits. According to reports in Flight magazine, Göring would use a favourite expression “If I should lie, may the beam above my head crack” during his speech, at which point a system of pulleys would bend the wooden joist situated above where he was sitting, the beam appearing to crack.  

Following its capture by US forces, the airfield was initially assigned ‘ALG Y-99’, the advanced landing ground seeing a 4,000ft Sommerfield tracking runway laid, allowing the Ninth Air Force to operate Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs, before it became part of the British Occupation Zone, a 1830m runway constructed which was later lengthened to 2,252m.

During its 48-year RAF life it was home to 25 different squadrons operating around 16 aircraft, Gütersloh seen as the hub for all RAFG (RAF in Germany) operations for a time, with a daily service to and from the UK operating to either Brize Norton or Lyneham. Among the military aircraft operating out of the station were Vampires and Gloster Meteors before it became a bomber base late in 1954, English Electric Canberras then a regular sight. 

(Fifteen Lightnings of 92 Squadron at RAF Gütersloh April 1st 1977)

From 1958, Gütersloh fell under the command of the Second Allied Tactical Force (2 ATAF), and following the Lightnings eight-year spell as QRA aircraft (1968-76) it became home to No. 3 Squadron RAF and then No. 4 Squadron RAF, both operating variants of the Harrier jump jet.    

While the Harrier was one of most iconic of RAF aircraft, a particular incident at Gütersloh would go down as one of the V/STOL jet’s most embarrassing – an aborted take-off seeing one of the most sophisticated aircraft developed ending up in the Ems Canal which ran next to the airfield. 

ZD412 was carrying out what seemed a normal departure from the airstrip to undertake a routine operation on September 30, 1991, number two jet in a pair tasked to fly to an Air Weapons Range and drop practice weaponry. As the pilot reached take-off speed the aircraft exhibited none of the usual aerodynamic signs of the Harrier as it approached wing-borne flight, so the pilot aborted the take-off.

When the pilot realised that the aircraft would still hit the safety barrier at high speed, he ejected, in accordance with guidance procedures, the barrier failing to halt the jet which overshot the runway and came to rest in the Ems Canal. The pilot was injured with the Harrier a write-off, ending up at Charlwood yard near Gatwick Airport after it had been unceremoniously lifted from the canal by a cherry picker.

In 1993, the RAF made their final departure from Gütersloh, the site taken over by the British Army and renamed Princess Royal Barracks, becoming a base for British Army helicopters, their eventual departure coming in September 2016, when it was handed back to German authorities.

Today, Gütersloh offers a number of tours every year for locals and visitors to see inside, with an on-site museum that includes examples of aircraft, some that flew from the station, including a Hawker Hunter and a Vampire, and one that certainly didn’t – the Soviet-era Sukhoi 22 fast jet.