Liangping Airport () , also called Liangshan Airport, is a former dual-use military and civil airport, located north of Liangping District (formerly called Liangshan) in Chongqing Municipality, China. It served the city of Wanxian (now

Wanzhou District Wanzhou District () is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China. It is currently governed as a district of Chongqing Municipality, bordering Sichuan to the northwest ...

) from July 1988 until May 2003, when all civil flights were transferred to the new Wanzhou Wuqiao Airport.

History

Originally called Liangshan, the spot where the airport sits today was originally a military base established in 1923 by the local "''

Lülin Lulin (, 'green forest') was one of two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty in the modern southern Henan and northern Hubei regions. These two regions banded together to pool their strengths, their coll ...

''" (Hanzi: ''绿林 - "Green Forest"'') militia for the Sichuanese warlord Yang Sen; it was later expanded into an airbase for flight operations of the air force under succeeding warlord Liu Xiang in 1928–1929, with earthen runways 600 meters north to south and 700 meters east to west. With the outbreak of the War of Resistance-World War II following the 7/7 Incident in 1937, Liangshan Airfield, as it became known as, was integrated along with the warlord aircraft assets and personnel into the centralized command of the nominally ''Nationalist Air Force of China''; Liangshan Airfield served in defense of Sichuan as well as launching fighters on escort missions for bombing runs against Japanese positions in Hubei. Liangshan Airfield served as a forward air force base stationing the 24th PS, 4th PG which regularly engaged attacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force and

Army Air Force 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 ...

in the Battle of Chongqing and

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...

; one such major aerial combat engagement occurring over Liangshan on 20 May 1940 when 24 bombers raided Liangshan and was met with eight Polikarpov I-16 Type 17 fighters of the 24th PS led by Capt. Li Wenxu (all having to launch in single-file as bombing damage to the runways on night before of 19 May weren't completely fixed) and claimed seven Japanese aircraft shot down (three bombers and a reconnaissance-attack plane among confirmed kills). After the Americans entered World War II following the

Pearl Harbor attack 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, ...

, the airport was also used by the

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 ...

Fourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign (1942–1945). The airport was primarily used by transport units, flying

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

in and out of the airport carry supplies, troops and equipment. In addition, unarmed

P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

photo-reconnaissance aircraft flew from the airport to gathering intelligence over Japanese-held areas. The airport was defended by the

426th Night Fighter Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, which operated

P-61 Black Widow The Northrop P-61 Black Widow is a twin-engine United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft of World War II. It was the first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter, and the first aircraft designed specifically as a night figh ...

interceptors on night missions against any attacking enemy aircraft in the Chongqing area. On 06 June 1943, the new CO of the P-40E Warhawk-equipped 23rd PS, 4th PG, Captain Zhou Zhikai and his squadron had just landed back in Liangshan from a

close-air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movem ...

mission, and while their Warharks underwent post-flight service, the airbase was suddenly attacked by IJA aircraft; Captain Zhou "hijacked" a USAAF

P-66 Vanguard The Vultee P-66 Vanguard was a United States Army Air Forces fighter aircraft. It was initially ordered by Sweden, but by the time the aircraft were ready for delivery in 1941, the United States would not allow them to be exported, designating ...

that happened to be nearby and ready, and managed to takeoff in pursuit of the raiders, shooting down two Ki-48 bombers in the process and damaging another, however, the Japanese airstrike was able to destroy eleven of the P-40E that were parked. The Americans closed their facilities at the airport at the end of the war. In the seven years of air battles over Sichuan, from 1938 to 1945, the Imperial Japanese raiders attacked Liangshan airbase alone with 7,855 bombs, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel; thousands of migrant workers worked feverishly to keep the airbase and facilities repaired, of these, 522 migrant workers died during combat operations, while over 3,000 migrant workers died in total from all causes, including cholera in those war years. The airport was opened to commercial flights on 14 July 1988, and over the years had routes to Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an, Chongqing, and Guangzhou. During its heyday in 1992 and 1993, Liangping Airport was the 54th-busiest among the 110 airports that were in China at the time. The airport had its final commercial flight on May 25, 2003.

References

* Cheung, Raymond. Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 126: ''Aces of the Republic of China Air Force''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015. . * Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. * 徐 (Xú), 露梅 (Lùméi). 隕落 (Fallen): 682位空军英烈的生死档案 - 抗战空军英烈档案大解密 (A Decryption of 682 Air Force Heroes of The War of Resistance-WWII and Their Martyrdom) 东城区, 北京，中国: 团结出版社, 2016. .
Airfields & Seaplane Anchorages China

USAFHRA Document Search - Liangshan
{{authority control Airports in Chongqing Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in China Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India Theater Defunct airports in China 2003 disestablishments in China

History

See also

References