First allied airstrip in Germany. Aviation engineers of the Ninth Engineer Command, Ninth U.S.

First allied airstrip in Germany. Aviation engineers of the Ninth Engineer Command, Ninth U.S. Air Force, begin work on the first Allied airstrip in Germany. The strip will be used by Ninth Air Force fighter-bombers operating ahead of U.S. armies advancing into the Reich and is one of more than 100 similar installations constructed, many under fire, on the Continent since "D-Day" (June 6, 1944). Two ME-109s attemtping to strafe the aire field during the construction were shjot down by the Bofors gun .... at left.