American wartime use 1945The airfield was taken by elements of the XII Corps, 90th Division, of the Third United States Army under the command of General George S. Patton, Jr. on 22 March 1945. Combat engineers from IX Engineer command moved in with the 832d Engineering Aviation Battalion arriving on 25 March 1945, to repair the runway for use by combat aircraft. The engineers laid down a 5000' Square Mesh (SMT) all-weather runway over the existing east-west (07/25) bomb-cratered concrete runway, and laid out a second 4000' sod runway aligned 08/26. The engineers also performed minimal repairs to the facility to make it operational. On 27 March, the airfield was declared ready for Allied use and was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "Y-64 Ober Olm".[5]Once repaired, the Ninth Air Force 10th Reconnaissance Group moved in, with photo-reconnaissance P-38 Lightning (F-4) and P-51 Mustang (F-5) aircraft to provide forward tactical reconnaissance to Army ground units moving into central Germany. On 8 April, P-47 Thunderbolts of the 354th Fighter Group moved in and attacked German army units, bridges and other ground targets of opportunity throughout Germany.[6] In addition to the combat units, C-47 Skytrain transports used the grass runway for combat resupply and casualty evacuation (S&E) missions constantly, moving munitions and supplies up to the battlefield and evacuating wounded to rear areas.[7]With the end of the war, Ober Olm Airfield was closed on 20 June 1945.[7] United States Army forces moved out of Ober Olm, as French forces moved into the Rhineland as part of their occupation zone of Germany.
