Modlin 2020-07-24
Kroczewo Airport.
Geographic coordinates: 52.473N 20.538E.
The town of Kroczewo.
Kroczewo is a small town in the Masovian Voivodeship, Płońsk Poviat, Załuski Commune. In 2011, the town had 613 inhabitants. It is 46 km from Kroczewo to the center of Warsaw. Kroczewo is located on the important road Warsaw-Gdańsk. Currently, the bypass of the S7 route bypasses the town.
In the Second Republic of Poland, there was a manor house with a packing complex in Kroczewo. There were and are two ponds in the park, connected by a canal. The manor house belonged to the wealthy Czarnowski family of the Grabie coat of arms, who owned several estates. Although Kroczewo is a small town, there was the Polish Post Office here and a stable for changing horses in postal and passenger stagecoaches.
On September 12, 1939, the German occupier expelled the owners from the property. The manor survived almost the entire war. In January 1945, it was blown up by the German army. Nothing is left of the property in Kroczewo.
In Kroczewo there is the Roman Catholic Parish of St. John the Baptist, which was erected in 1424.
Kroczewo airport. The beginnings.
The airport in Kroczewo was established in 1938 as an ambush airport. In Poland, manors with manors and palaces were perfect for airports. There were good social and living conditions there. The forge was a good workshop. The nearby trees gave good camouflage to the planes, and a piece of the meadow was used as a launch pad. The presence of horses guaranteed good communication. For the operation of the airport, the Polish Army concluded an agreement with the owner. There were financial benefits to this contract for the owner. But there were also duties: mowing the landing area, removing fences and ditches. The owner was to provide a forge, stable and quarters for soldiers.
In the spring of 1939, the idea of ambush airfields was abandoned because Polish planes would not be able to catch up with the planes of the German army. The airports remained as field airports, i.e. hidden and camouflaged. At the end of August 1939, most of the Polish planes were transferred to field airports. As a result, on September 1, 1939, the German air force bombed empty main airports.
In the area of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki – Płońsk, there are three field airports: Szpondowo, Zdunowo and Kroczewo. PZL P.11 planes from the Pursuit Brigade were based and operated at the airports. On September 5, 1939, the planes of the Pursuit Brigade were transferred to the Legionowo region.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman