Fenton Airfield was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

military airfield in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

located at

Tipperary Station Tipperary Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about east of Daly River and south of Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. Composed primarily of open grazing land the property occupies an area ...

in what is now the locality of Douglas-Daly and named after

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Clyde Fenton Clyde Cornwall Fenton OBE (16 May 1901 – 28 February 1982) was the Northern Territory's first flying doctor. Unlike the other doctors with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Fenton was also his own pilot. Fenton was a self- ...

. Abandoned since 1945, the site is one of three surviving World War II-era heavy bomber airfields in the

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

– Darwin region. The airfield is open to the public, and the main runway, taxiways and hardstands are accessible. Remnants of the control tower remain and 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 single runway was . Further development of the airfield was undertaken by No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF, No 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF and the

Department of Main Roads (New South Wales) The Department of Main Roads (DMR) was an agency of the New South Wales Government, responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining major road infrastructure. The DMR directly managed highways and major roads and provided funding to local ...

under the

Allied Works Council The Allied Works Council was an organisation set up to oversee and organise military construction works in Australia during World War II. Established in February 1942, the Allied Works Council was responsible for carrying out any works required ...

. The runway was enlarged to approximately , accommodating close to sixty aircraft dispersal bays, some with earthen

revetment A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water ...

s. It was named after Flight Lieutenant

, a RAAF officer who recommended the site for the airfield. Fenton Airfield was mainly used by Liberator bombers mounting long range raids against

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

forces in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, the northwestern area of operations, and the

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the D ...

. During its operational use, Fenton Airfield served as headquarters for Royal Australian Air Force squadrons and United States Army and Air Force units. Reconnaissance flights beginning at Fenton Airfield were flown over

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

Island,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and Celebes 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 Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, flying over . The airfield was abandoned at the end of World War II. Over the years, it has reverted to the natural terrain from which it was built. The base infrastructure is gone; only concrete, building foundations, piles of rubble and occasional aircraft parts remain. In aerial photographs, the remains of some roads that likely led to dispersed parts of the base, such as the bomb dump and the administrative containment area, are faintly visible, but no structures remain. Long Airfield was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

on 25 March 1986 and on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...

on 11 September 1996.

Units based at Fenton Airfield

No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

* No. 6 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF * No. 11 Signals Unit RAAF * No. 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF * No. 21 Squadron RAAF (

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

) *

No. 23 Squadron RAAF No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is a non-flying base operations and training squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane, Queensland. The squadron was formed in 1937 and saw action agai ...

(B-24) *

No. 24 Squadron RAAF No. 24 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force squadron. The squadron was formed in 1940 and saw action as a bomber squadron during World War II serving in the Pacific theatre against the Japanese, and undertaking operations during the Battle ...

(B-24) *

82nd Wing RAAF 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

(No.'s 21, 23 & 24 Squadrons RAAF) * 133 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery Australian Army *

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organiza ...

: 64th Bombardment Squadron ( 43d Bombardment Group),

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

2 August-25 September 1942 : 43d Materiel Squadron : 319th Bombardment Squadron ( 90th Bombardment Group),

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

, 5 February-23 June 1943 :: Deployed from:

RAAF Base Darwin RAAF Base Darwin is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located in the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The base shares its runway with Darwin International Airport, for civil aviation purposes. The herit ...

, NT :

380th Bombardment Group 38 may refer to: *38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 *one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038 *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges **.38 Special, a revolver cartridge *'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfo ...

, May 1943-9 August 1944 :: 528th Bombardment Squadron, 28 April 1943 – 20 August 1944 :: 529th Bombardment Squadron ::: Assigned to:

Manbulloo Airfield Manbulloo Airfield was a World War II airfield built at Manbulloo Station, near Katherine, Northern Territory. History Works on the airfield were initially undertaken by the 43rd Engineer Regiment (US Army) in April 1942. The Allied Works Cou ...

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

Long Airfield Long Airfield was a World War II military airfield located in the locality of Douglas-Daly, Northern Territory, Australia. Also known as "Long Strip", the airfield was constructed in late 1943 by No.14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF. T ...

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

, NT, 10 July–February 1945 :: 530th Bombardment Squadron :: 531st Bombardment Squadron ::: Assigned to:

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

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

, NT, 25 July-1 March 1945 * 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

* 404th Quartermaster Air Depot Platoon,

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

Pacific War Wrecks DatabaseNorthern Territory Attractions
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . *
US Air Force Historical Research Agency records search

External links

{{authority control Former Royal Australian Air Force bases Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Australia World War II airfields in Australia Defunct airports in the Northern Territory Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Australia Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Northern Territory Heritage Register

History

Units based at Fenton Airfield

Japanese Bombing Raids on Fenton Airfield

See also

References

External links