Fenton Airfield

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Fenton Airfield
Northern Territory, Australia Fenton Airfield Fenton Airfield (Northern Territory)

Australian B-24 Liberators at Fenton in March 1945


Coordinates	13°37′23.46″S 131°20′19.60″E / 13.6231833°S 131.3387778°E / -13.6231833; 131.3387778Coordinates: 13°37′23.46″S 131°20′19.60″E / 13.6231833°S 131.3387778°E / -13.6231833; 131.3387778
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Site history
In use	1942-1945

Fenton Airfield was a World War II military airfield located at Tipperary Station, Hayes Creek, Northern Territory, Australia.

Abandoned since 1945, the site is an outstanding example of a World War II heavy bomber airfield construction and layout, and is one of three surviving examples of heavy bomber airfields in the Katherine-Darwin region.

The airfield is open to the public; the main runway, taxiways and hardstands are accessible. Remnants of the control tower remain and items of aircraft wreckage can be found in the area.

History

The airfield was built by C Company and HQ Detachment of the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion between 27 April 1942 and 16 July 1942. The airfield was named after Flight Lieutenant Clyde Fenton. The single runway was 6,000 ft × 100 ft (1,829 m × 30 m).

It was mainly utilised by Liberator bombers mounting long range raids against Japanese forces in the Netherlands East Indies North Western Area of Operations and the South West Pacific Area.

Further development of the airfield was undertaken by No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF, No 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF and New South Wales Department of Main Roads under the Allied Works Council. The runway was enlarged to approximately 7,218 ft × 164 ft (2,200 m × 50 m) and about sixty aircraft dispersal bays, some with earthen revetments.

During its operational use Fenton Airfield was a major airfield, being headquarters for many Royal Australian Air Force Squadrons, and United States Army and Air Force units. Reconnaissance flights were flown over Timor Island, New Guinea and Celebres Islands, and attacks and armed reconnaissance missions were carried out against Japanese airfields, ground installations and shipping. On 29 February 1944 the USAAF 380th Bombardment Group flew a 16-hour mission from Fenton to Borneo, flying over 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi).

With the end of the war in late 1945, the airfield was abandoned. Over the years, it has reverted in large part to the natural terrain from which it was built. All of the base infrastructure is gone, with concrete and various foundations, piles of rubble and the occasional aircraft part remaining. In aerial photographs, the remains of some roads that probably led to dispersed parts of the base away from the operations area such as the bomb dump and the administrative containment area are faintly visible, but no structures exist.

Units based at Fenton Airfield

No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF
No. 6 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF
No. 11 Signals Unit RAAF
No. 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF
No. 21 Squadron RAAF (B-24)
No. 23 Squadron RAAF (B-24)
No. 24 Squadron RAAF (B-24)
82nd Wing RAAF (No.'s 21, 23 & 24 Squadrons RAAF)
133 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery Australian Army

United States Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force

64th Bombardment Squadron (43d Bombardment Group), B-17 Flying Fortress 2 August-25 September 1942

43d Materiel Squadron

319th Bombardment Squadron (90th Bombardment Group), B-24 Liberator, 5 February-23 June 1943

Deployed from: RAAF Base Darwin, NT

380th Bombardment Group, B-24 Liberator, May 1943-9 August 1944

528th Bombardment Squadron, 28 April 1943 – 20 August 1944

529th Bombardment Squadron

Assigned to: Manbulloo Airfield, NT, 28 April-7 November 1943

Assigned to: Long Airfield, NT, 7 November-10 July 1944

Assigned to: RAAF Base Darwin, NT, 10 July–February 1945

530th Bombardment Squadron

531st Bombardment Squadron

Assigned to: Manbulloo Airfield, NT, 28 April-5 December 1943

Assigned to: Long Airfield, NT, 5 December-21 July 1944

Assigned to: RAAF Base Darwin, NT, 25 July-1 March 1945

808th Engineer Aviation Battalion, United States Army
404th Quartermaster Air Depot Platoon, United States Army

Japanese Bombing Raids on Fenton Airfield

30 June 1943 (12:30pm)
6 July 1943 (12:02pm)
13 August 1943 (9:45pm)
13 August 1943 (11:12 pm)
21 August 1943 (03:07 am)
15 September 1943 (00:25 am)
18 September 1943 (03:50 am)

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

Pacific War Wrecks Database
OzatWarWebsite
Northern Territory Heritage Listing
Northern Territory Attractions
Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
US Air Force Historical Research Agency records search

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fenton Airfield, Northern Territory.

v t e Airports in the Northern Territory

Public airports	Alice Springs Ayers Rock Bathurst Island Borroloola Croker Island Darwin Elcho Island Garden Point Gove Groote Eylandt Hooker Creek Kalkgurung Lake Evella Maningrida Milingimbi Ngukurr Numbulwar Oenpelli Port Keats Ramingining Snake Bay South Goulburn Island Tennant Creek

Private airports	Jabiru McArthur River MKT The Granites Victoria River Downs

Military airports	Darwin Tindal

Related	New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia Territories of Australia

Airports in bold have scheduled service

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