Guiuan Airfield
Guiuan Airfield | |
---|---|
Part of Fifth Air Force | |
Guiuan, Eastern Samar | |
Aerial view of Guiuan Airfield, Samar, Philippines | |
Guiuan Airfield | |
Coordinates | 11°02′07″N 125°44′29″E / 11.03528°N 125.74139°E |
Type | Military airfield |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1945 |
In use | 1945 |
Guiuan Airfield is a World War II airfield located near Guiuan in the province of Eastern Samar, Samar, Philippines. It was closed after the war.
Today, the runway of the wartime airfield is known as Guiuan Airport, but it is infrequently used.
See also
The runway was built by the 61st Naval Construction and actually two side by side runways were built through the jungle and were built of coral. The strip was used by corsairs of the marines stationed there as well as the 22nd and 5th Bombardment Groups of the Army Air Force.[1] The 22nd Bombardment Group arrived on 21 January 1945.[2] On one day the two strips hosted the most airplanes of any base in the Pacific. On that day over a thousand Navy Airplanes landed at the base. It was the main carrier force of the Navy as a Typhoon was coming and the carriers got rid of their aircraft. The Navy planes were parked among the B-24s and C-47s. The crews were put into the four-man tents during the Typhoon with half a dozen Navy Airmen sleeping with the Air force crews.
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
- ↑ Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4. p.38
- ↑ Maurer, p.73