Advanced Landing Ground

Advanced Landing Ground (ALG)
UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Occupied Germany
Photo of the runway at Advanced Landing Ground A-43 (St. Marceau, France) being constructed by IX Engineering Command, August 1944
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1944–1945
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II
Garrison information
Occupants	RAF Second Tactical Air Force Ninth Air Force Twelfth Air Force

Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 1944 to V-E Day, 7 May 1945.

Unlike the permanent airfields built in the United Kingdom and designed for the strategic bombardment of Germany, the tactical combat airfields on the continent were temporary, often improvised airfields to be used by the tactical air forces to support the advancing ground armies engaged on the battlefield. Once the front line moved out of range for the aircraft, the groups and squadrons moved up to newly built ALGs closer to the ground forces and left the ones in the rear for other support uses, or simply abandoned them.

When the Allies invaded Normandy on D-Day, Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Service engineers were among those in the initial assault waves. Their mission was to rapidly construct forward operating airfields, known as Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs), on the European continent. As the Allied armies advanced across France and into Germany, several hundred airfields were built or rehabilitated for use by the allied air forces.

For security reasons, the airstrips were referred to by a coded number instead of location. In the United Kingdom, USAAF installations were identified by three digit (AAF) numbers ranging from AAF-101 to AAF-925. After D-Day, continental airfields in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) were also assigned coded numbers. American airfields were given A-, Y-, or R-, prefixes and numbered consecutively from 1 to 99. Both "A" and "Y" designated airfields could be found in France, however many "Y" fields would also be in France, as well as the Netherlands; Belgium and occupied areas of Germany. "R" coded fields were usually located in occupied Germany. British airfields on the continent were also consecutively numbered, but with a B-prefix.