Vught Emergency Landing Field

Military obsolescence. The airfield was a temporary military installation built for World War II. It was abandoned by the Allied forces after the front line advanced deep into Germany, rendering the field strategically unnecessary. It was never intended for permanent or civilian use.

The site has been completely returned to nature and shows no visible traces of its past as an airfield. It is now part of a protected nature and recreation area known as the 'Vughtse Heide' (Vught Heath), which is popular for walking and cycling. The immediate vicinity is of profound historical importance, containing the National Monument Kamp Vught (a museum and memorial center on the site of the former concentration camp) and the 'Fusilladeplaats', a memorial at the former execution site. The land's primary use is now for nature conservation and historical remembrance.

The airfield has a significant and dark history tied to World War II.

1. **German Construction and Use (1943-1944):** It was originally constructed by the German Luftwaffe in 1943 and named 'Flugplatz Herzogenbusch' (Herzogenbusch being the German name for the nearby city of 's-Hertogenbosch). Tragically, its construction utilized forced labor from prisoners of the adjacent Herzogenbusch concentration camp, known as Kamp Vught. The airfield served as a satellite or dispersal field for German fighter units, including elements of Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26).

2. **Allied Use (1944-1945):** After the liberation of the southern Netherlands in late 1944, the Royal Air Force (RAF) took over the damaged airfield. It was repaired and designated as Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) B-79. From this base, RAF squadrons, including reconnaissance units flying Spitfires and fighter-bomber units flying Typhoons, supported the final Allied push into Germany.

The designation 'Vught Emergency Landing Field' and ICAO code NL-0073 are likely post-war administrative classifications, possibly noting the open area as a potential site for emergency landings, rather than reflecting a period of active operation as a formal emergency airport.

Zero. There are absolutely no plans or prospects for reopening the site as an airfield. Its status as a protected nature reserve and a national memorial site of immense historical and cultural importance makes any future aviation-related development inconceivable.