Peleliu Airfield is a small
airfield
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
on
Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
H ...
, one of the islands of
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
. It also served as an airfield during
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 ...
.
History
Peleliu Airfield was built by the Japanese in 1944 with a pair of intersecting runways. During the
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the US military, was fought between the United States and Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from September 15 to November 27, 1944, on the island of P ...
on 15 September 1944, 11,000 Japanese defended the island when the
1st Marine Division
The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).
It is the ...
assaulted landing on the southwest corner of the island, just to the west of the airfield. On D+1, the
5th Marines moved to capture the airfield and push toward the eastern shore. They quickly raced across the airfield under heavy artillery fire from the highlands to the north, suffering heavy casualties in the process. After capturing the airfield, they rapidly advanced to the eastern end of Peleliu, leaving the island's southern defenders to be wiped out by the
7th Marines
The 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Nicknamed the "Magnificent Seventh", the regiment falls under the command of the 1st M ...
. This area was hotly contested by the Japanese, who still occupied numerous pillboxes. Temperatures remained around 115 °F (46 °C), and the Marines soon suffered high casualties from heat exhaustion. Further complicating their situation, the Marines' only available water supply was contaminated with oil. Still, by D+8 the 5th and 7th Marines accomplished their objectives, holding the airfield and the southern portion of the island.
Having quickly captured the airfield, Seabees from the 33rd and 73rd Naval Construction Battalions had it operational by D+3. The "Grasshoppers" (
VMO-1 : ''For the earlier VMO-1 which formed in MCB Quantico in 1937 see VMTB-151''
Marine Observation Squadron 1 (VMO-1) was an observation squadron of the United States Marine Corps which saw extensive action during World War II and supported numerou ...
) soon began aerial spotting missions for Marine artillery and Naval gunfire. On 26 September 1944 (D+11), the
Corsairs of the
VMF-114
Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 114 (VMF(AW)-114) was a Squadron (naval), squadron of the United States Marine Corps that was originally commissioned during World War II. Nicknamed the “Death Dealers”, the squadron saw the most action duri ...
landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began dive-bombing missions across Peleliu, and also brought two more useful weapons to the fight against Japanese fortifications. Corsairs fired rockets, to blow open cave entrances for the infantrymen, and also delivered
napalm
Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated al ...
attacks—only the second time the weapon had been used in the Pacific. The napalm proved useful, burning away vegetation hiding
spider hole
Illustration of a spider hole
In military slang, a spider hole is a type of camouflaged one-man foxhole, used for observation.
Etymology
The term is usually understood to be an allusion to the camouflaged hole constructed by the trapdoor s ...
s, and killing their occupants.
After liberation, the Seabees further repaired, expanded and upgraded the airfield. The airbase was under the command of Colonel
Karl S. Day
Karl Schmolsmire Day (May 30, 1896 – January 19, 1973) was a naval aviator of the United States Marine Corps Reserve who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. A veteran of World War I, Day served with Northern Bombing Group on the Belgian fro ...
. In December 1944, the two runways measured and . A
PBY
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...
that took off from Peleliu on 3 August 1945 was the first to locate survivors of the 4 days after it was sunk.
The USAAF
Seventh Air Force
The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea.
The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...
moved the
F-5-equipped
28th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
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 ...
to Peleliu from
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
on 5 October 1944 to carry out long-range photographic missions over 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 ...
. The recon squadron remained until April, 1945 when it was moved northwest to
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
.
[
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .]
After the end of the war, Peleliu and its airfield were abandoned by the Americans. Today the vegetation on the island, which was largely burnt out by the battle, has regrown and has replaced the scars of war. As it had been heavily defended by the Japanese, there are still tanks,
Amtracs, an
A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...
, canteens, helmets, etc., scattered in the jungle from the war. The airfield still exists, and has limited use with the SW-NE runway still usable, but for light aircraft only.
Facilities and aircraft
The airport resides at an estimated
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of 9 feet (3 m) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
. It has one
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
designated 4/22 with a
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
surface measuring 6,000 by 40 feet (1,828 x 12 m). For the 12-month period ending on 23 May 1987, the airport had 1,500
air taxi
An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand.
In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) an ...
aircraft operations, an average of 125 per month.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
See also
*
USAAF in the Central Pacific
*
Peleliu Naval Base
References
External links
www.pacificwrecks.com*
{{authority control
Airports in Palau
Peleliu
Palau in World War II
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II
Airports established in 1944
Seabees
Closed installations of the United States Navy