Hobart Barracks Hobart Barracks is a former military airfield , located 1 . 6 km east - northeast of Detmold in North Rhine - Westphalia , Germany . History . Flughaven Detmold was built in 1934 on the northeastern edge of the city and was intended for recreational ( glider ) flying . It was laid out as a 500x500 meters all - way grass airfield with a single hangar . Before it was opened it was already decided to expand the airfield to 700x700 meters . Later it was decided to expand the airfield even further ( 1000x1000m ) to allow it to be used as an emergency airfield by the Luftwaffe . Civilians only got to use the airfield briefly though , as three months later the Luftwaffe took over the airfield on 15 February 1935 and they began converting it with a number of large hangars and a barracks compound west of the airfield . A flying school and school facilities were built . Aircraft used in flight instruction were : Bücker Bü 131 , Focke - Wulf Fw 44 , Heinkel He 72 biplanes and Klemm Kl 35 monoplanes for primary training . Advanced trainers flown at the airfield were Arado Ar 66 , Gotha Go 145 , Heinkel He 46 , Focke - Wulf Fw 58 , Junkers W 33 and W 34s . Such a flying school typically had around 90 training aircraft , plus a few types for type instruction for front - line service . Types that frequented the airfield were Junkers Ju 52 / 3m transports , Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters and Heinkel He 111 bombers . With the outbreak of World War II , front line units that used Detmold were III . / JG 3 ( Jagdgeschwader 3 ) ( 28 March - 10 April 1940 ) and 2 . / JG 27 ( Jagdgeschwader 27 ) flying Bf 109Es ( November 1940 - 10 January 1941 ) . The airfield and its maintenance unit were involved in the production of the wooden Focke - Wulf Ta 154 twin - engine Moskito nightfighters . This occurred in part because the nearby furniture industry was used to produce parts for the aircraft , but development of the aircraft was terminated in late 1944 . The airfield was never attacked by bombers , but allied fighters did attack it on several occasions . In early 1945 , the airfield was prepared for demolition , but due to malfunctions only a part of the maintenance hangar and the aircraft at the airfield were destroyed . In April 1945 , United States Army units moved through the area and seized the facilities . IX Engineering Command , Ninth Air Force repaired the airfield and the airfield was re - designated as " Advanced Landing Ground R - 14 " . American Army Air Force units used the airfield as a casualty evacuation and combat resupply airfield by the IX Air Service Command , The runways were hardened with Pierced Steel Planking ( PSP ) , and Heavy cargo planes flew into the aifield within minutes , often throughout the night . The Americans transferred AAF Station Detmold to the British in June 1945 as part of the formation of the British Occupation Zone of Germany . It became the garrison of 20th Armoured Brigade of the British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ) around April 1958 , who used the airfield ( known as Hobart Barracks ) for army observation flights . Aircraft flying from Detmold included Auster AOP6 ( No . 652 Squadron RAF ) , DH Chipmunks , Westland Scouts , Gazelle AH1 and Lynx AH1 / AH7 ( No . 654 Squadron AAC , No . 659 Squadron AAC , 669Sqn AAC ) helicopters . In 1964 , German civil aviation returned to the airfield when the LSV Detmold glider club was allowed to use the airfield . Later the airfield was also frequented by RAF Harriers from nearby RAF Gütersloh . The British turned the airfield over to German authorities in 1995 after the end of the Cold War , and the airfield reopened in 1999 when glider activity , helicopters , civilian and recreational use were permitted after some changes had been made to the local infrastructure to facilitate the local population .