Orconte

Orconte
Orconte
Location within Champagne-Ardenne region Orconte
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine
Department	Marne
Arrondissement	Vitry-le-François
Canton	Thiéblemont-Farémont
Intercommunality	Perthois
Government
• Mayor	François Paul
Area1	13.65 km2 (5.27 sq mi)
Population (1999)2	455
• Density	33/km2 (86/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	51417 / 51300
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Orconte is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.

Second World War

Captain Antoine de Saint Exupery (1900- 1944) stayed in the commune during winter 1939, with the Groupe de Grande Reconnaissance 2/33 (Reconnaissance Group II/23). He evokes this period and the farm (opposite the church) where he lived in Pilote de guerre, translated into English as Flight to Arras.

In September 1944, the United States Army Air Forces established a temporary airfield Advanced Landing Ground, known as "A-66" near Orconte. The Ninth Air Force 354th Fighter Group flew P-51 Mustangs and P-47 Thunderbolts from the airfield from 15 September until 11 December 1944. The unit moved east with the advancing Allied armies and the airfield was dismantled with the land being returned to agricultural use.

See also

• Communes of the Marne department