This small airfield site on the southern outskirts of Dieppe was established as a Luftwaffe fighter station during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.
It consisted of an 825m by 640m grass surface with outlying hangars to the east of the landing area and a group of anti-aircraft emplacements and ammunition bunkers to the south.
There were believed to have been as many as 15 covered aircraft hangers in the eastern dispersal area, linked by a series of branching, concrete taxiways.
The remains of this network can still be seen today, along with three of the original fuel storage buildings nearby, although these are on private agricultural land and cannot be accessed without permission.
A large barracks building in the nearby village of Rouxmesnil Le Haut has been covered by modern buildings, and an R622 group shelter north east of the taxiways has either been removed of completely buried by vegetation - it’s difficult to find any signs of it.
Little else was built at the location with personnel accommodation in surrounding farms and villages with the main HQ for the site at a chateau near to the coast around Pourville.
It’s reported to have had six heavy and eight light anti-aircraft guns within 5km of its perimeter, although only three light positions can be found nearby today.
The three anti-aircraft posts can be seen in the field to the south of the modern runway when the crops are low with three open emplacements for 2cm guns each having an ammo store a few yards away. There’s also a Vf2a personnel shelter in the middle of the position.
Dieppe - Saint-Aubin airfield was one of the many objectives of the ill-fated Operation Jubilee Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942, and was supposed to have been assaulted by Canadian troops from the Cameron Highlanders who landed on ‘Green Beach’ at Pourville.
They were to be supported by tanks of the Calgary Regiment before heading east to destroy an inland gun batterie and capture a HQ at Arques-la-Bataille. These objectives were never met.
The airfield was abandoned in 1944. Today it’s a flying school with a hard runway aligned NW/SE direction.