shortly after its capture, the airfield was turned over to the luftwaffe, and chièvres became a major air base during the battle of france. on 2 june, jagdgeschwader 26 (jg 26) moved messerschmitt bf 109e fighters to the airfield and on 9 june kampfgeschwader 30 (kg 30) moved junkers ju 88a attack bombers to the field. both of these units were heavily engaged in combat operations with the french and the british expeditionary force in france.