Fliegerhorst Antwerp-Deurne

It was not until May 13 that Antwerp airport was evacuated. The civilian personnel led by Commander Scheldeman left and the military 'blew up' the airfield and left for the coast. The detonated explosives caused only superficial damage, which was quickly repaired by the Germans.

From then on, Antwerp airport would also play a role in the war.

On May 13, Belgian Lieutenant Meeuws was ordered to 'blow up' the airfield and withdraw. The next day the civilian personnel also left for the coast.

On May 17, the German flag flew on the tower of the cathedral.

A German detachment pitched its tents in the garden of the Drakenhof. The soldiers immediately went to work on the airfield and the craters left by the explosions were filled. The first flying visitors were a few single-engined Henschel 126 reconnaissance aircraft. They were followed on May 23 by the Jagtgeschwader 51, whose pilots were housed in the Centuryhotel. They were taken by taxi to and from the airport...

A few days later they were replaced by a Gruppe Messerschmitts (JG26). The Germans then started to enlarge the airfield towards Borsbeek.

The farms between the Mortselsesteenweg and the Krijgsbaan and on the side of the Vosstraat were evacuated.

At the beginning of July, Hauptmann Otto Pilger arrived at Deurne to inspect the new base for his Kampfgeschwader 3 (II/KG3). On July 8, the first Dorniers arrived and with them 2,500 personnel, 1,000 of whom were housed in Deurne. The headquarters were housed in the Varentshof in the Deurnestraat. In the autumn of 1940, the Dorniers of KG3 took part in the Battle of Britain from Deurne, with both day and night flights. In March 1941 the Geschwader was withdrawn and equipped with Junkers Ju.88s and deployed on fronts in Southern Europe.

Antwerp got a different destination...