Iba Airfield is a former

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 ...

airfield on

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It was overrun by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during the Battle of the Philippines (1942).

History

The airfield was a former training camp for the Philippine Constabulary on the western coast of Luzon in

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...

province. In the summer of 1941 it was placed in use by the Americans as a gunnery training field for pursuit (fighter) units. The Far East Air Force sent the 3d Pursuit Squadron,

24th Pursuit Group The 24th Pursuit Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was wiped out in the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42). The survivors fought as infantry during Battle of Bataan and after their surrender, were subjected to the Bataan De ...

to Iba for aerial gunnery training in its new P-40E Warhawks in mid-October, where it was when war broke out on 8 December 1941. In addition to the pursuit planes, the first operational

SCR-270 The SCR-270 (Set Complete Radio model 270) was one of the first operational early-warning radars. It was the U.S. Army's primary long-distance radar throughout World War II and was deployed around the world. It is also known as the Pearl Harbor ...

mobile

early-warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...

was deployed to the airfield at the same time. Iba was a grass field with few support facilities. The first word of the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...

was received by commercial radio between 0300–0330 hours local. Within 30 minutes radar at Iba Field, Luzon plotted a formation of airplanes 75-miles (120-km) offshore, heading for

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

Island. P-40's were sent out to intercept but made no contact. By 1130 hours, the fighters sent into the air earlier landed for refueling, and radar disclosed another flight of Japanese aircraft 70-miles (112-km) West of

Lingayen Gulf The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...

, headed south. Fighters from Iba Field made another fruitless search over the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

. The P-40's sent on patrol of the South China Sea returned to Iba with fuel running low at the beginning of a Japanese attack on the airfield. The P-40's failed to prevent bombing but did manage to contest the low-level strafing of the sort which proved so destructive at

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

soon after. The radar set at Iba, however, was destroyed in the attack and the 3rd PS decimated. On 9 December, the remnants of the 3d Pursuit Squadron relocated to

Nichols Field Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay and Parañaque, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. The complex is located at Andrews Avenue by the north, Domestic Road by the west, NAIA Road and Ninoy Aquino Avenu ...

. The airfield was abandoned by the USAAF about 20 December prior to it being overrun by the invading

. After its occupation, it was used by Japanese aircraft as a satellite field for the Clark area.

Images

File:Iba,Zambalesjf9291 15.JPG, Highway sign File:Iba,ZambalesAirportjff9350 14.JPG, Runway of

Iba, Zambales Iba, officially the Municipality of Iba ( xsb, Babali nin Iba; ilo, Ili ti Iba; tl, Bayan ng Iba), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 55,581 peo ...

Airport panorama File:Cessna 150 at Iba Airport 9319 05.jpg, Aviation school plane File:Iba,ZambalesAirportjff9350 09.JPG, The short runway File:Iba,ZambalesAirportjff9350 12.JPG, Aviation schools with parked training planes File:Iba,ZambalesAirportjff9350 03.JPG, Descending plane of student pilot with professor File:IbaAirportjf9319 07.JPG,

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP, ; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Abyasyong Sibil ng Pilipinas) is the civil aviation authority of the Philippines and is responsible for implementing policies on civil aviation to assure safe, econo ...

office in the center of the Iba Airport and Airfield

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . *
The Army Air Forces in World War II, Chapter 6, Pearl Harbor and Clark Field

External links

Map of Iba Airfield

Airfields in PhilippinesMaps of Iba Airfield - Philippines 2013Iba Airfield - Airfield in Panibuatan, Zambales, Philippines
{{authority control World War II airfields in the Philippines Military history of the Philippines during World War II Iba Field Airfields of the United States Army Air Corps during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) History of Zambales

History

See also

Images

References

External links