Saint - Simon – Clastres Air Base Saint - Simon – Clastres Air Base ( ) is an abandoned military airfield , which is located approximately northwest of Clastres and east of Saint - Simon , both communes in the Aisne department of the Picardy ( " Picardie " ) region in France . It is approximately north - northeast of Paris . Its history begins before World War II , when it was originally a grass civil airdrome . During the German occupation of France ( 1940 – 1944 ) , the Luftwaffe developed the airdrome into a major military airfield . Attacked frequently by Allied Air Forces , the Luftwaffe base was seized by Allied Ground Forces in September 1944 and was used as a Fighter and bomber base by the United States Army Air Force until the end of the war . It was redeveloped in the 1950s as a NATO Dispersed Operating Base , and was closed in 1967 . Today , it is mostly agricultural fields , and also a power - generating wind farm , with several electric generating windmills . History . Clastres Airport was a pre - World War II civil airport , consisting of a terminal , hangar , some support buildings and a grass airfield , serving the nearby city of Saint - Quentin . German use during World War II . It was seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the early part of the Battle of France . It was briefly used as a fighter airfield by Jagdgeschwader 27 ( JG 27 ) and Jagdgeschwader 52 ( JG 52 ) in early June 1940 , participating in the Blitzkrieg against the French Army and British Expeditionary Force flying Messerschmitt Bf 109 Es . Clastres was unused during the balance of 1940 and 1941 and 1942 . In 1943 , the Germans laid down two 1800m all - weather concrete runways at the airport , aligned 05 / 23 and 10 / 29 . Presumably this was due to the fortification of the Pas - de - Calais , being believed by the Germans that when the Americans and British tried to land in France to open a Second Front , the airfield would have a key role in the defense of France . In early February 1944 , Clastres became a day interceptor airfield which housed fighters to attack the USAAF Eighth Air Force heavy bomber fleets attacking targets in Occupied Europe and Germany . Known units assigned ( all from Luftlotte 3 , Fliegerkorps IV ) : The Fw - 190F / G were derivatives of the Fw - 190A , however had been configured to have a dive - bombing capability . However , in the interceptor role , they were faster and had longer range than the Fw - 190A . Previously not attacked by Allied bombers , Clastres came under frequent attack by Ninth Air Force B - 26 Marauder medium bombers and P - 47 Thunderbolt s mostly with 500 - pound General - Purpose bombs ; unguided rockets and . 50 caliber machine gun sweeps when Eighth Air Force heavy bombers ( B - 17 s , B - 24 s ) were within interception range of the Luftwaffe aircraft assigned to the base . The attacks were timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers . Also the P - 51 Mustang fighter - escort groups of Eighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield . Also , as part of Operation Quicksilver , which was designed to deceive the Germans about where the invasion of France would take place , Clastres was attacked by Eighth Air Force B - 17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber groups in early June 1944 , just prior to the D - Day landings in Normandy . American use . American Ninth Army units moved though the area in early September 1944 , heading towards Saint - Quentin . On 7 September The IX Engineer Command 846th Engineer Aviation Battalion moved in and began a quick rehabilitation of the base so it could be used by American aircraft . It was declared operationally ready for Ninth Air Force combat units on 9 September , only a few days after its capture from German forces , being designated as Advanced Landing Ground " A - 71 Clastres Airfield " In addition to the airfield , tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities ; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure ; a dump for supplies , ammunition , and gasoline drums , along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting . It hosted the following known units : When the combat units moved out , Clastres was turned over to Air Technical Service Command , becoming an Air Depot and later , during the summer of 1945 , a storage depot for large numbers of surplus aircraft , whose units had returned to the United States via ship . Clastres Air Base was turned over to the French Air Ministry on 30 November 1945 . Postwar use . In French control after the war , the airport sat abandoned for several years . There was much unexploded ordnance at the site which needed to be removed , as well as the wreckage of German and American aircraft . Many of the buildings at the base were destroyed by the war , and although some had been repaired by the American combat engineers , most were in ruins . There was no use for the prewar airport , and as a result , the Air Ministry leased the land , concrete runways , structures and all , out to farmers for agricultural use , sending in unexploded ordnance teams to remove the dangerous munitions . NATO use . In 1950 when as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union , the air base at Clastres was offered to the United States Air Force by the French Air Ministry as part of their NATO commitment to establish a modern Air Force Base at the site . NATO faced several problems when attempting to solve the air power survival equation . Planning for a Warsaw Pact first strike survival in both conventional and nuclear wars had to be considered . The main air bases were built on small parcels of land with very limited dispersal space . It was decided to use Clastres as a NATO Dispersed Operating Base , be used in the event of an emergency . The goal was to have no more than one fighter squadron on each main or dispersed base in the event of war . Beginning in 1953 , the wartime wreckage was finally cleared from the base and construction was begun . French Army Explosive demolition teams were brought in to safely remove unexploded ordnance remaining from the war and the site was prepared for construction . A modern all - weather concrete NATO jet runway was laid down aligned 02 / 20 , with taxiways and dispersal areas for three fighter squadrons . The dispersals were designed in a circular marguerite system of hardstands which could be revetted later with earth for added aircraft protection . Typically the margueriete consisted of fifteen to eighteen hardstands , with each hardstand capable of parking one or two aircraft , allowing the planes to be spaced approximately 150 feet ( 50 m ) apart . Each squadron was assigned to a separate margueriete , with space for about 50 fighters . Other than the occasional touch - and - go landing of NATO ( USAF ) aircraft , Saint - Simon – Clastres Air Base was never used . With the French withdrawal from the integrated military component of NATO in 1967 , the base was abandoned . Current use . In the 40 years since its closure , the base has been primarily used for agriculture . The NATO concrete runway , taxiways and marguerites remain , all in reasonable condition . A windmill farm has been constructed on the north end of the airfield , along with what appear to be two or three race cart tracks inside the grassy areas of the northern marguerites . In recent years , a coating over the concrete appears to have been laid down on the main runway and taxiway . between the dispersal areas , and perhaps may be used for light aircraft , probably agricultural . The only visible remaining feature of the wartime airfield is a section of the 10 / 29 east - west runway . The concrete is deteriorated with large breaks in the expansion joints visible , however part of the runway has also been resurfaced to the east side of the NATO runway , and a small metal structure , probably used for agriculture has been erected on the 29 end by a local access road from the village of Clastres , just to the southeast of the airfield .