San Marcelino 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 opposin ...

airfield located in Zambales

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of 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 ...

located in the

Central Luzon Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. It was closed after the war.

History

San Marcelino Airfield was built before the war by the Americans. On the morning of 29 January 1945 nearly 35,000 U.S. troops landed just northwest of San Marcelino. Elements of the US 38th Division immediately dashed inland to take the airstrip, but found that Filipino guerrillas under the command of Capt. Ramon Magsaysay, later president of the Republic of the Philippines, had secured the field three days earlier. After the liberation by combined Filipino-American troops on

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 ...

in 1945, it was developed into a Fifth Air Force command facility as well as an operational airfield. With the end of the war, the airfield was closed and is now part of the town of San Marcelino. Units assigned were: * 308th Bombardment Wing (11 January-16 June 1945) * 309th Bombardment Wing (8 February-29 May 1945) * 90th Bombardment Group (26 January-10 August 1945) * 345th Bombardment Group (13 February-12 May 1945) *

348th Fighter Group The 108th Operations Group is a unit of the 108th Wing (108 WG) of the New Jersey Air National Guard, one of the many units stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. If activated to federal service with the U.S. Air Force, the ...

(4 February-15 May 1945) *

421st 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 ...

(25 October 1944 – 8 February 1945) * 547th Night Fighter Squadron (December 1944 16 January 1945)

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 Military facilities in Zambales History of Zambales Military airbases established in 1940 {{Philippines-airport-stub

History

See also

References

External links