The Mighty Fortress that was home to 1500 RAF Families
IN early 1999, No. 3 and No. 4 Squadrons took part in the closing parade at RAF Laarbruch, a ceremony that saw the British military officially mark the end of their presence at the site in the Northern Rhine which began back in March 1945.
The station was one of the key German locations that formed part of NATO’s front-line operations during the Cold War, the so-called ‘clutch’ of four air bases situated close to the Dutch/Belgian border, Laarbruch located just north of Bruggen, Geilenkirchen and Wildenrath.
(A restored Taylorcraft Auster in RAF colours)
It started life in the hands of British nine years before the station officially opened, the closing stages of World War Two seeing the Western Allies set up an Advanced Landing Ground at the site – a mobile runway which was literally transported on the back of trucks. There was also an emergency grass airstrip with the location used as an air base ahead of the final push across the Rhine and onwards towards Berlin. The first recognised Squadron to operate out of Laarbruch was No. 662, flying Taylorcraft Austers, the planes used to assess the remaining German military forces ahead of the British Army and its allies.
(16 Sqn Buccaneer at RAF Laarbruch - 📸 Rob Schleiffert)
Post war, the site only officially opened as RAF Laarbruch nine years later in 1954, the runway rebuilt in response to the Cold War with the site up and running within six months of work starting; one of the first aircraft to operate was the Canberra, No. 69 Squadron reforming there in May of that year as a Canberra unit. Laarbruch soon became home to a number of front-line squadrons: II (AC) Squadron flying F-4 Phantoms and later Jaguars; 15 and 16 Squadrons flying Buccaneers – all three transferring on to Tornados in the 1970s and 1980s along with No. 20 Squadron. A detachment of No. 25 Squadron was also deployed at Laarbruch in the 1970s, the RAF’s first Bristol Bloodhound SAM (surface-to-air missile) unit.
(2 Sqn Jaguar at RAF Laarbruch - 📸 Rob Schleiffert)
While the 1990s marked the beginning of the end for Laarbruch, it was also the station’s most influential time, a period of almost continuous deployment starting with the first Gulf War in 1990/91. All its operational Squadrons were involved in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, flying over 700 sorties, but it was one mission that put the focus firmly on two of Laarbruch’s residents. Pilot John Peters and Navigator John Nichol of XV Squadron were on their first mission of Desert Storm in January 1991, flying their Tornado at ultra-low levels, when they were hit by a shoulder-launched SAM SA-14, luckily both ejected safely, albeit at just 300 feet, before their stricken aircraft crashed into the desert.
Unfortunately, they were soon picked up by Iraqi soldiers before being transferred to Baghdad to be interrogated by Saddam Hussein’s more sinister forces. Both were tortured and then forced to appear in front of the TV cameras, the shocking images of the beaten and bruised airmen being relayed across the world. Thankfully they were both released after seven weeks in captivity, Ft Lt John Peters returning to Laarbruch in April 1991, his welcome home making international news headlines.
The fall of the Berlin War and the effective end of the Warsaw Pact saw the gradual relocation of Squadrons from Laarbruch, but it did welcome new occupants during this period with No. 3 and No. 4 Harrier Squadrons transferring from RAF Gutersloh along with the helicopters of 18(B) Squadron.
The Harriers were involved with policing the no-fly zones over Iraq that followed the end of the first Gulf War, with Operation Deny Flight in 1993 another commitment from Laarbruch – the NATO enforcement of a no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Other operations were carried out over Balkan countries. including in September 1995 when No. 4 Squadron took part in air strikes on Serb military targets, flying out of Gioia del Colle in Italy.
(4 Sqn Harrier GR7 at RAF Laarbruch - 📸 Rob Schleiffert)
At its peak there were more than 1500 RAF families living in the nearby towns of Weeze and Goch and within the station’s grounds; development at the site also saw the construction of two schools, two post offices, five shops, two banks and a building society, a church, and its own cinema. The station was certainly worthy of its motto, ‘A Mighty Fortress’, as it was effectively a small town, and at its height the largest employer in a 40-mile radius.
Other Squadrons based at Laarbruch over its 45-year history as an RAF station included No. 5 Squadron operating Gloster Meteors and Javelins; No. 31 Squadron operating Canberras; No. 80 flying Canberras; No. 1 and No. 26 Squadron RAF Regiments.
The RAF made its final departure in 1999, complete with parade featuring the Queen’s Colour Squadron and a flypast from the Harrier GR7s at the site, the departing Squadrons destined for RAF Cottesmore in Leicestershire.
There were already plans in place for a commercial airport offering low budget flights across Europe, with Airport Weeze opening in 2003, named after the nearby town where many RAF families lived.
(Weeze Airport)
Today, the church and cinema have been converted into the RAF Museum Laarbruch Weeze, the only venue of its kind on German soil, and a popular location for former residents to visit. The idea of a museum to mark the RAF station came as much from the local community as former personnel, keen to recognise the friendships made over the decades that RAF Laarbruch was in operation; it was the early 1970s when RAF Laarbruch was awarded the freedom of Weeze, the first foreign military site to receive such an honour, with all personnel at the station made honorary citizens.
Remnants of the station’s buildings remain to this day, with a cursory search on Google revealing that people are still visiting Laarbruch, and they are more than happy to post pictures of their trips.
