the base became operational again in march 1941 when a bomber unit, kampfgeschwader 3 (kg 3) arrived from le culot airfield (beauvechain air base), with dornier do 17 light bombers. from chièvres kg 3 flew raids against britain and anti-shipping missions in support of the u-boats during the battle of the atlantic campaign. it later transitioned to junkers ju 88a attack bombers, and in february 1942 iv.(erg)./kg 3 assisted the german warships scharnhorst and gneisenau in the famous "channel dash". in january 1943, it moved to istres air base in southern france, to attack allied shipping in the mediterranean.