What is this building and where is it? Europe in 1944-45 by a U.S. Army Air Force soldier. France, Germany, Belgium, or Netherlands?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 22 Jul, 2023
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That’s the Chapelle royale de Dreux, also known as St-Louis de Dreux.
Dreux is a town about 70 km west of Paris. This chapel is historically important, since the last King of France, Louis-Philippe (reign: 1830-1848), is buried there; the Chapel is the traditional burial place of members of the House of Orléans.
As @Andrew already mentioned in his valuable comment (thanks a lot!), the former Dreux/Vernouillet airfield (now Vernouillet Airport) is located just some kilometers southwest of Dreux. The 397th Bombardment Group including the 599th Bombardment Squadron was stationed there in September / October 1944.
See also the American Air Museum in Britain on Dreux Airfield and the Historical Report of the 397th Bombardment Group from B26.com.
Some modern pics of the Chapelle royale de Dreux:
Source: Wikimedia Commos, pic by Nicolas Vigier / CC BY
See also this pic from Google Maps:
Google Maps with both locations (Airport and Chapelle Royale – thx at @BobJarvis-ReinstateMonica for the idea!):
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘