Pandaveswar Airfield is a former wartime

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 in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

used during the

Burma Campaign 1944-1945 Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. It is now abandoned.

History

Pandaveswar was a major

Tenth Air Force The Tenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of the U.S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerly Carswell AF ...

combat airfield, hosting numerous groups between 1942 and 1945. Known units assigned were: * 7th Bombardment Group, 12 December 1942 – 17 January 1944

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 ...

12th Bombardment Group 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria, South Africa See also * 12 (disambiguation) Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year Years * 12 BC * ...

, 13 June-16 July 1944

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

4th Combat Cargo Group The 4th Combat Cargo Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization that served in Tenth Air Force as part of the China Burma India Theater of World War II. Overview Combat Cargo Groups were to be self-contained group ...

, November 1945-15 January 1946

C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

8th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 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 the ...

, 3 January-29 October 1943 * 427th Night Fighter Squadron, 31 October -23 December 1944

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 fight ...

After the combat cargo unit moved out in January 1946, it appears the airfield was closed. Today, the remains of both main runways (16/34, 04/22) are visible in aerial photography, along with numerous dispersal pads in vegetative areas along with several taxiways. The majority of the support station has been dismantled, however some derelict buildings and streets can still be seen, along with a village that appears to have been built on the site.

References

* Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983.
www.pacificwrecks.com - Pandaveswar keyword search

External links

Google satellite view of Pandaveswar Airfield
{{authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in British India Defunct airports in India Airports in West Bengal Buildings and structures in Paschim Bardhaman district Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in India