Mangaldan Airfield is 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 opposing ...
airfield located north of the town of
Mangaldan, near
Lingayen Gulf, to the east of
Dagupan
Dagupan, officially the City of Dagupan ( pag, Siyudad na Dagupan, ilo, Siudad ti Dagupan, fil, Lungsod ng Dagupan), is a 2nd class independent component city in the Ilocos Region, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populati ...
in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Pangasinan on the island of
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 abandoned after the war.
History
The airfield was built after the American liberation in early January 1945 and was used as a medium bomber and fighter airfield during the 1945 Battle of the Philippines.
Mangaldan airfield was abandoned after the war and fell into a state of disuse. The town of Mangaldan has absorbed traces of the airbase, the runway area has reverted to rice paddy planting area and irrigated pools for fish farms and open space. In past decades farmers reported finding bullets and other remains, but not many traces of the airbase remain today.
Units assigned
*
35th Fighter Group Military units
* 35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force
* 35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I
* 35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 Jul ...
(20 January – 10 April 1945)
*
58th Fighter Group (5–18 April 1945)
*
312th Bombardment Group (10 February – 19 April 1945)
See also
*
USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
*
Louis Edward Curdes
Louis Edward "Lou" Curdes (2 November 1919 – 5 February 1995) was an American flying ace of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II who held the unusual distinction of scoring an official air-to-air kill against another American ...
References
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
www.pacificwrecks.com
External links
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Philippines
Military history of the Philippines during World War II
Buildings and structures in Pangasinan
History of Pangasinan
Airports established in 1945
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