Spatial-Economic Metamorphosis of a Nebula City by El Makhloufi Abderrahman;

Author:El Makhloufi, Abderrahman;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

5.8When the ‘night fell on Schiphol’: the end of a collective arrangement

Before the German invasion, Schiphol figured among the main targets of the first raids that commenced on 10 May 1940. As a result, eight airplanes of the LVA were damaged or destroyed. Jan Dellaert (1947), the director of Schiphol, wrote about this event: ‘[…] when in the early morning of May 10th, 1940, the German bombers started their unexpected raid on our beautiful Airport, night fell on Schiphol’ (ACA, 1323, No. 932–1949).

The German bombardment of Schiphol airport hit many targets but was not heavy enough to cause serious damage to the airfield. At that time, bombs were not as heavy or destructive as at the end of the war. In July 1940, Schiphol was occupied and used as the military base of the German Luftwaffe (known as Fliegehorst 561), where two German squadrons were stationed. The German occupying force repaired the damaged areas of the airfield, then shortly after the repair work extended the runways, constructed taxiways on the ground adjoining the airfield and erected a couple of small hangars for parking aircraft. Furthermore, a number of big, heavily reinforced concrete bunkers were built for the accommodation of the military staff and other personnel during raids while at numerous locations anti-aircraft batteries were set up around the airfield as a means of defence.

Municipal involvement with Schiphol was suspended and the whole airport became an officially closed military area. The key figures in Dutch civil aviation – the director of the airport Dellaert and the director of KLM Plesman – managed to escape German detention (though Plesman was later arrested in Eindhoven and put in jail in The Hague). However, during the occupation, many key figures from civil aviation and their personnel continued to meet regularly in Amsterdam to discuss different issues related to airport development such as the configuration and layout of the ideal airport, the type and size of the equipment required, airport facilities required and the best lighting system for a modern airport.

Under the occupation (August 1940), the Ministry of Waterworks appointed a commission (chaired by Dr D. A. P. N. Koolen) to study the possibilities for the construction of a national airport in the Netherlands. The commission continued its meetings from 1940 until 1944. Within this commission, three separate sub-commissions started discussions about different technical aspects related to the construction of an airport, such as the configuration of the airport in terms of a tangential or parallel layout, aprons, taxiways, the distribution of buildings, and lighting and radio installations. The members of these sub-commissions were the director of Schiphol airport Jan Dellaert, representatives from the Ministry of Waterworks, representatives of KLM and other members of the local authorities (ACA, 1323, Nr. 61II; Nr. DH1940; Nr. 272 S.1940; Nr. 3/35S (51-III); NA, 2.16.39, No. 25–32).

The discussions that took place within each of these three sub-commissions were either technical and/or theoretical in character. The technical issues focused on the latest developments in civil aviation around the world, more particularly in the USA.

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