The Wierzbie airfield was most probably constructed in 1940. Initially it served as a training airfield. It was a grass airfield with a concrete apron parking area for aircraft, mostly Messerschmitts. In July 1942, the airfield in Wierzbie was a place of an attempted escape of British prisoners of war from a POW camp in ?ambinowice 1.5 km away. A group of Polish and British prisoners of war escaped from the camp through a tunnel and then they reached the airfield in Wierzbie, where they stole 2 aircraft. Unfortunately only one of them managed to escape. The other aircraft crashed just after the take off. It turned out that the airport was earlier a place of sabotage actions targeted against the Germans. This consisted of adding sugar to tanks with fuel. The British prisoner of war, who managed to escape most probably managed to get to England. It is highly probable that Douglas Bader, the famous British pilot with artificial legs was held at Wierzbie.

The German airfield in Wierzbie was most probably created in 1940 as a base for an extensive camp complex in nearby ?ambinowice. The last commandant of the airfield was Erich von Hartmann, called “the Fighter Ace” in Germany.

Accessible (to the public for a visit)
Only after prior notification made to the Nature and Culture Society “Panorama Wierzbia”
Wierzbie 108
48-316 ?ambinowice
wierzbie@op.pl
phone: (+48) 77-4311-327
(+48) 607-446-439