I'm standing on the dike near Overlangel. The evening sun throws my meters long shadow over the grassland before me. In the distance I can see ships on the river Maas and it's barely visible that here before me once was a bend of that same river. As it also isn't visible what happened here in the autumn of 1944. The gliders and the paratroopers who captured the Maas River Bridge near Grave to ensure the march to Arnhem. And, later on, the unthinkable landing of 209 transport planes with highly necessary goods. Volkel airbase was still a mess, so there was no other choice.... hoping for the best. I'm trying to count a group of geese. Are there 200? Maybe it is, but the idea of more than two hundred Goony Birds in the foreland before me is beyond all imagination. But it did happen... over half a century ago, here before me was a reserve airstrip of Volkel, where the legendary C-47, against the background of "a bridge too far" made the impossible possible. AN AIRSTRIP NEAR KEENT Through the efforts of the Mayor and ex-marine, van der Vijver, of Overasselt; from the summer of 1928 the foreland at Keent was used by planes of the Dutch Navy and Air Force. The ambition and interests of van der Vijver went further, and in 1933 he was able to talk the municipality and the landowner into a big flying display. In the bend of the Maas near Keent an airstrip of 600 by 600 meters was made, where from July 15-19 1933 the Overasselt flying week took place. The main sponsor of the event was KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), which was pleased to enrol 1,100 paying passengers for a maiden flight. This massive event had more than 20,000 visitors. Part of the proceeds went to a crisis committee for the flood disaster. After the flight party, the field was forgotten. The canal building work on the Maas River kept the people busy. To make navigation on the river easier and less susceptible to flooding, the sharp river bend near Keent was cut. When the work was done, Keent was surprised to find itself at the south side of the Maas. RESERVE AIRSTRIP FOR VOLKEL The war came and Keent barely noticed it. Because of its isolated position the 'island' of Keent was an ideal hiding place for the resistance. On a regular basis goods were dropped for the resistance, until the spring of 1944, when German soldiers came to Keent. After bombardments on "Fliegerhorst Volkel" the Luftwaffe decided to make some reserve airstrips in the neighbourhood. This is why in June 1944 they started to build an airstrip in the foreland of Keent. Coincidentally, more of less, at the same place as where in July 1933 the temporary airstrip had been. The work was done by labourers from the neighbourhood that were drafted by the Germans. Fifty volunteers, who would be imprisoned if they refused, had to report to the Town Hall on June the 12th and went to work at the field the next morning. They received a small fee, the so called "airfield rate" and a warm meal; watery pea-soup with grey bread. The Mayors tried to replace the workers as much as possible to ensure that farmhands were not drafted. The airfield was a grass-strip of about 1200 meters length. The ground was strengthened with grass-sods that had to be moved with horse and wagon to the field from all over the neighbourhood. A drainage-system (to prevent flooding) was made in the bottom of the field, but a lot of errors were made by the drafted workers, on purpose of course. Wooden poles were placed around the strip to which they attached camouflage nets and green and brown painted straw for the planes. Walls of earth were made around the anti-airplane FLAK and gasoline stocks. The surrounding roads were improved and houses in Keent and Reek were drafted for German personnel. In spite of all the counter-actions of the Dutch, the field was ready for the first flight, in late august 1944, by an aircraft from Volkel. This was the first, but also the last, German plane that made use of the Keent airstrip. The Germans left in a hurry and the field was forgotten again. Within just over three months of the landing in Normandy, the Allied forces were at the Belgium-Dutch border. The target was to get to Arnhem and, as swiftly as possible, get into Germany to end the war. To do so they needed to capture the bridges to cross the rivers. In front of the Allied Forces the Germans fled to Germany in blind panic via the Dutch provinces of Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel. September the 5th is known in Dutch history books as "Frantic Tuesday" and that week all military installations were destroyed by the retreating Germans. Also, at Fliegerhorst Volkel - that had already been heavily bombarded by American, British and Canadian bombers - the hangars and buildings were changed into a smoking mound of rubble. This chaotic situation was seen by Montgomery as an ideal possibility to swiftly push through to Arnhem. In less than a week the plans were ready and on September the 17th the biggest airborne operation in history was started. OPERATION MARKET-GARDEN A short overview is necessary to be able to follow the actions in and around Grave. Under the codename "Operation Market" the 1st Allied Airborne Army landed on September 17 1944 with gliders and paratroopers at strategic places, to prepare the march overland: The 101st Airborne Division at Son, St. Oedenrode and Veghel to secure the bridges over the Wilhelmina canal, the Dommel and the Zuidwillemsvaart. The 82nd Airborne Division near Grave and Nijmegen to capture the bridges over the Maas, the Maas-Waal canal and the Waal. The 1st British Airborne Division in the Arnhem area to capture the Rhine Bridge and the airfield at Deelen. As back-up for the northern spearhead, the Polish Para Brigade and the 52nd British Lowland Division were on standby. The following advance over land, by the 2nd British Army, was codenamed "Operation Garden". 30 Corps, supported by 8 and 12 Corps, had to force a corridor over the captured bridges to secure the connection to Arnhem. These troops were followed by troops of the 16th Airfield Construction Group and the 5357th Airfield Construction Wing. For them the task to make the airfields of Eindhoven, Volkel and Deelen ready for use as soon as possible after capture. Workhorses of Operation Market were the C-47's and the gliders of the IXth Troop Carrier Command. IXth TCC was part of the 9th Air Force, the American Tactical Airforce, which was stationed in England to support the invasion troops. Transport planes were temporarily attached to the operational command of 1st Allied Airborne Army. 9th Air Force / 1st Allied Airborne Army IXth Troop Carrier Command (Order of battle per september 1944) 50 Troop Carrier Wing 439 TCG - Balderton 440 TCG - Fulbeck 441 TCG - Langar 442 TCG - Weston Zoyland 52 Troop Carrier Command 61 TCG - Barkston Heath 313 TCG - Folkingham 314 TCG - Saltby 315 TCG - Spanthoe 316 TCG - Cottesmore 53 Troop Carrier Wing 434 TCG - Aldermarston 435 TCG - Welford 436 TCG - Membury 437 TCG - Ramsbury 438 TCG - Greenham Common A Troop Carrier Group (TCG) was made up out of 4 Troop Carrier Squadrons each with about 20 C-47's. That way they had about 1,000 transport planes of the C-47 Skytrain type at their disposal. Later on the C-47 was better known by the name "Dakota". Besides that every TCG also had a few planes of the type C-53 Skytrooper. They were practically the same as the Skytrain, except they didn't have the double cargo door and were mainly used for transport of people. The Skytrains of 50th and 53rd Troop Carrier Wing (TCW), and specially converted Halifax's and Stirling's of the RAF, were assigned to tow Airspeed Horsa and CG-4A Waco gliders that could carry jeeps, anti-tank guns and light howitzers on board. Finally large amounts of Stirling's and B-24 Liberators were used to drop goods and ammunition. The transport capacity that is used to fly in the troops of 1st AAA in two days was about 1,500 transport planes, of which most flew a mission on both days, and in total more than 1,600 gliders. DROPZONE OBOE NEAR OVERASSELT Just in front of the main force, two C-47's of the Pathfinder Group appeared above Grave on September 17th at 12.40 hour and dropped a team of 24 Para's over "Overasseltse Broek". In the forelands of Overasselt, this Pathfinder Force marked the dropzone "Oboe" (DZ-O) with a landing-T, a yellow letter "O" and purple smoke pots. On the terrain a Eureka radar-beacon was set up to mark the route to Groesbeek and Nijmegen. Because of the ditches and trenches in the area "Oboe" was only used on the first day by the paratroopers. After they marked the same zones they could be used as a landing zone by a large amount of gliders. In the days to come the "Overasseltse Broek" was intensively used for dropping supplies and landing of extra gliders with materiel. On September 20th, at the end of the afternoon, appeared 300 Skytrains of 52nd TCW that dropped their supplies, food and ammunition. Still dark clouds began literally to darken the sky over the operation. The 1st British Airborne Division troops encountered unexpectedly strong resistance near Arnhem, and were surrounded. Due to bad communications the situation was underestimated, and the largest part of the dropped goods came down far from their own lines. Above that the Allied tactical air force were delayed by bad weather that kept on for a few days, which meant that they couldn't give air support. The ground troops stood bumper to bumper on Hell's Highway; the small corridor over which the marsh went. Flying in heavier material was also impossible, because the airfields were not in Allied hands yet. Deelen was unreachable and Volkel and Eindhoven weren't yet cleared of enemy resistance and were in a mess. The gliders waited after their one-way trip in large worthless amounts on the landing zones. TUG OF WAR FOR KEENT The solution was nearer then many thought.... Only a stone's throw away from the bridgehead near Grave was the forgotten airfield - Keent. On September 12, during preparations for Operation Market, photographs were taken of the airfield, but nothing had been done with it. Unaware of the presence of an airfield, that only a week before was left almost ready by the Germans, a reconnaissance patrol of the 504th Parachute Regiment reported a large area between Grave and Ravenstein. This was immediately reported to Headquarters in England. Slowly they came into action. 1st AAA still had the complete 52nd Lowland Division on hand to fly over to Holland. At the same time the RAF's 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was diligently looking for a place to station their planes nearer to the frontline. The army as well as the Royal Air Force rushed in to claim the airfield at Keent. It was the RAF that got assigned to the airfield and gave it the tactical code B.82. But, there was a problem; the RAF could not get troops there at short notice. So it was the Army after all which was set up at B.82 Grave on September 21st. Bulldozers took the trenches away and filled the ditches and on the swampy terrain steel nets were rolled out to improve the ability to bear the planes. After two days of feverish work the airstrip was ready enough to receive the first planes... but nothing came. Also the next day nothing, because September the 24th was cold, grey with thick low-hanging clouds. At last, on September 25th, B.82 was used. After the dropping of supplies over Grave by 17 Dakota's of 575 Squadron RAF, two planes landed to reconnoitre the situation for a daring plan. On September 26th they reached a decision. If they wanted to save anything, immediate action was needed. The only available airfield was still B.82 Grave and that became the target for that day. Some thought it was a mission impossible, but 9th TCC was sure that they could do the job. In spite of a persistent morning fog about two hundred C-47 Skytrains of 52nd TCW were readied for departure. On board a unit of anti-aircraft artillery, 132 jeeps with 75 trailers, 31 motorcycles, 12.000 kg. ammunition, 30.000 kg. Food packages and 882 soldiers. 52 Troop Carrier Wing - HQ Exton Hall (Order of battle and unit-codes per september 1944) 61 Troop Carrier Group - Barkston Heath (C-47/C-53) 14 TCS - 3I 15 TCS - Y9 53 TCS - 3A 59 TCS - X5 313 Troop Carrier Group - Folkingham (C-47/C-53) 29 TCS - Z7 47 TCS - N3 48 TCS - 5X 49 TCS - H2 314 Troop Carrier Group - Saltby (C-47/C-53) 32 TCS - S2 50 TCS - 2R 61 TCS - Q9 62 TCS - E5 315 Troop Carrier Group - Spanhoe (C-47) 34 TCS - NM 43 TCS - UA 309 TCS - M6 310 TCS - 4A 316 Troop Carrier Group - Cottesmore (C-47/C-53) 26 TCS - 4C 37 TCS - W7 44 TCS - 6E 45 TCS - T3 At 11.15 hour the green light was given. The weather had cleared enough and, one by one, the fully loaded Skytrains departed, on their way to Holland. They were covered by more than 750 fighters, by having hermetically sealed the airspace of Eastern Brabant, the stream of planes set their course over Belgium, via Eindhoven to Nijmegen. The Luftwaffe fought with nearly 200 planes, but could not break through the defence. When the planes reached the target a wide bend was flown over Herpen and Ravenstein; afterwards they landed at B.82 Grave from the north. Regularly there was enemy fire from the ground with small arms; the airfield was still in the frontline. Nevertheless, only one plane was slightly damaged. At 13.50 hour the first Skytrain set foot on the ground and, with intervals of less than half a minute, 208 Skytrains followed one by one. They landed on the far side of the field and taxied back over the middle strip. There they got unloaded in record time and were sent to a second strip for take-off. The air traffic control was done from a plane that was positioned at the border of the field. The unloading of a Skytrain would normally take 3 to 4 hours, now most of the time the job was done in half an hour. For about 3 hours the sky above Grave was filled with landing and departing planes. At the highpoint more than 100 planes were on the airstrip waiting to leave after unloading. Where possible as many wounded men as possible were taken back to England. And, at 16.50 hours, the last of the 209 Skytrains left Airstrip B.82 Grave, safely on their way back to England. In the shadow of Market Garden history was written at Keent; the largest supply operation by air to a frontline. The forgotten airfield Keent was for a small time an important lifeline for the much-provoked ground troops. BACK IN THE WAITINGROOM Due to the situation at Arnhem a continuation of this operation wasn't possible. On September 29th and 30th a few Skytrains landed with supplies, but apart from that it kept quiet on Keent. Apart from a few detachments the 52nd Lowland Division still weren't taken into action. An attempt to fly them over with help of gliders had to be cancelled. Stupidly enough, not enough gliders were available. That's why, in dropzone "Oboe", a small airstrip was made by the 876th Airborne Engineers Aviation Battalion, where the stranded Horsa's and Waco's were made ready for pickup by the Skytrains of 81 TCG, and were towed to the depot in Denain Belgium. On September 28 the Army received orders to leave the Airstrip near Grave and hand it over to 2TAF. Apart from advanced ground elements of 125 (Fighter) Wing, it was not until the beginning of October that the first Spitfires and Tempests arrived, but that story is for later...... (on the next page) Source: "Het reserve vliegveld Keent bij Grave" by Rene H. Dolfsma from Zandvoort. Article based on a book by Wim Boeijen from Schaijk: "The forgotten airfield Keent/Airstrip B82 Grave". Translation: Peter van Bommel/Allan Hillman. Anyone who can provide information about "B-82 Grave" is requested to contact me at info@bommeltje.nl. Anything you know about the wings, squadrons and planes that used the airstrip will be very appreciated. Click button below for the next page about Airstrip B.82 (Spitfires and Tempests, Operational Record Book and more)