The 22nd Air Base (Polish: 22. Baza Lotnicza) is a Polish Air Force base, located just east of Malbork, near the village of Królewo Malborskie. It was officially constituted on 1 January 2001, replacing the disbanded 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment. The main unit based there is the 41st Air Tactical Squadron flying MiG-29 fighters.

The first civilian airfield in Malbork (then Marienburg in Germany) started operating in the 1920s, but it soon was judged too small and in 1929 was moved to its present location, just east of town, near the village of Königsdorf (Królewo).^[1] In 1934 it was taken over by the Luftwaffe and became a military airfield.

Marienburg Focke-Wulf factory
Part of Nazi Germany
B-17s destroyed all but one of the buildings at the Marienburg Focke-Wulf factory on October 9, 1943.[2]:280
Battles/wars	Operation Pointblank (WWII)

Contents 1 Marienburg Raid 2 Post-war 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Marienburg Raid

Following the dispersal of German aircraft producing factories during World War II, a 100 acre Focke-Wulf assembly plant was built next to the airfield, which at one point produced approximately half of all Focke-Wulf Fw 190s.^[3] The plant was attacked in the US Eighth Air Force air raid of October 9, 1943, by 96 B-17 Flying Fortresses.^[4] The operation came to be called the Marienburg raid by Hap Arnold and received considerable public coverage.^[5] Marienburg was so far away from Britain that the Germans did not consider anti-aircraft defenses necessary, and the raid was mostly undisturbed by fire from the ground and lost only 2 B-17s (one through engine trouble).^[6] Losses from fighters were minimal since German fighters concentrated on other raids occuring on that day, causing them heavy losses. ^[6] Largely due to the absence of flak, very high bombing accuracy was achieved by the bombers, and the raid was hailed as a spectacular demonstration of the American ability to bomb targets with high precision.^[5] The raid and the operations of that day are featured in a 1944 documentary film Target for Today. According to the postwar US Strategic Bombing Survey, the factory was heavily damaged, 114 workers died and 76 were injured.^[7] Nevertheless, the plant was rebuilt and continued to function, and so was attacked for a second time by 98 B-17s on April 9, 1944.^[8]

[edit] Post-war

When Malbork and the airfield passed to Poland, wartime damage was repaired, and Soviet Air force units were based there for a few years. In 1952 the 41st Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Polish Air Force was formed to be based there, initially equipped with Mig-15 fighters, later replaced with Mig-17s, and from 1964 Mig-21s. ^[9] In 2001 the regiment was dissolved and its ground and air components separated, to form the 22 Air Base and 41st Air Tactical Squadron respectively. In 2003 the last Mig-21s were retired, and in 2004 the squadron was rearmed with refurbished Mig-29s obtained from Germany.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• (Polish) Official webpage

Coordinates: 54°01′36″N 19°08′11″E / 54.02667°N 19.13639°E / 54.02667; 19.13639

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