Nukufetau Airfield
Nukufetau Airfield.svg.png) | |
|---|---|
| Part of Seventh Air Force | |
| Nukufetau, Gilbert and Ellice Islands | |
| Coordinates | 08°03′54″S 178°22′38″E / 8.06500°S 178.37722°E (Approximate) |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
United States Army Air Forces United States Marine Corps |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1943 |
Nukufetau Airfield is a former World War II airfield on the south-eastern side of Nukufetau on Motulalo Island.
History
Built by United States Navy Seabees on Motulalo island as an alternative strip to Nanumea and Funafuti airfields to allow for further dispersal of aircraft in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu). Two intersecting runways formed an "X" shape.
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) using the base included:
- 26th Bombardment Squadron operating B-24s from 11 November 1943 – 25 January 1944[1]
- 98th Bombardment Squadron operating B-24s from 11 November 1943 – 20 January 1944[1]
Operational before November 1943 to aid in the Battle of Tarawa.
Postwar
The debris from a crashed Liberator B-24 remained on the island.[2] After the Pacific War the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to its owners, however as the coral base was compacted to make the runway the land now provides poor ground for growing coconuts.[3]
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- 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.
- Pacific Wrecks index: Nukufetau Airfield
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maurer, Maxwell AFB (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- ↑ Bartsch, Bill. "War Relics in Tuvalu and Kiribati". South Pacific Bulletin (1975). Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ↑ Melei Telavi, Hugh Laracy (ed.) (1983). "Chapter 18 - War". Tuvalu: A History. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu. p. 143.
External links
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