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Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

Site Canton of Valais · District: Leuk · Uninhabited site (municipality of Turtmann-Unterems)
Part of the municipality of Turtmann
Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

The airfield is named after Turtmann, the village on the Rhône plain where it was built. The site now belongs to the municipality of Turtmann-Unterems.[2][3]

Founding of Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

The beginnings of the Turtmann airfield go back to 1939. It later became one of the Swiss army's cavern airfields, where aircraft were sheltered in caverns. Its underground command room shows clearly how such a base worked. The land belongs to the Confederation.[1][3]

History of Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

1939. Beginnings of the airfield.[1]

1942. On 24 October the military air base officially enters service. The airfield thus dates from the Second World War.[1][2]

early 1960s. Construction of the aircraft caverns, as at Ambri, Alpnach, Buochs, Meiringen and Raron.[1]

2003. The army gives up the airfield.[1][2]

2008. An inventory of military monuments of the air force singles out its caverns. It considers it desirable to preserve the underground rooms with their furniture and equipment.[1]

2017. On 20 December a 3.6 ha plot of the former airfield, partly used by the military police, is named as an option for a federal asylum centre.[3]

Historic sites in Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

Runway. Concrete runway oriented 08/26, about 2'400 m long. The airfield had the ICAO code LSMJ.[4]

Remains in Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

Caverns and underground command post. The underground part includes the airfield command centre and the operations command post, the squadron room, the officers' mess, the machine room, an ammunition store and a workshop.[1]

Sources

  1. Département fédéral de la défense (DDPS), armasuisse Immobilier, « Militärische Denkmäler im Bereich der Luftwaffe » (Berne, 2008)
  2. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, « Turtmann » (Alois Grichting, version du 05.01.2017, version allemande)
  3. Secrétariat d'État aux migrations (SEM), Plan sectoriel Asile, fiche d'objet WCH-6 « Bundesasylzentrum Turtmann » (20.12.2017)
  4. Forgotten Airfields, « Turtmann » (données techniques de la piste)
  5. geo.admin.ch, recherche d'adresses, Flugplatzstrasse (coordonnées)

Other villages near Aérodrome militaire de Turtmann

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