West Field is a former

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 on

Tinian Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the ...

in the Mariana Islands. Today, West Field is used as the civilian Tinian International Airport. West Field at

Tinian Naval Base Tinian Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Tinian (NAF Tinian) was a major United States Navy sea and airbase base on Tinian Island, part of the Northern Mariana Islands on the east side of the Philippine Sea in the Pacific Ocean. The Base was b ...

was a base for

Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Interco ...

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

operations against the Japanese Home Islands in 1944–5, and the base for the

58th Bombardment Wing.

History

Tinian, with its sister islands of the Marianas, had passed through Spanish and German hands prior to becoming a Protectorate of Japan following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Under Japanese administration, Tinian was largely a sugar plantation. The island had two good airfields with a third under construction by the Japanese in 1944. West Field originated as the Japanese Gurguan Point Airfield, having two parallel runways. By mid-1944, the Americans had advanced inside the Japanese ring of defense in the Pacific Theater. On Tinian, 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 ...

could establish bases to conduct long-range strategic offensive air operations over the

Japanese Home Islands The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...

with the new

. Assaulted on July 24, 1944 by

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

from

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, which had just been taken the previous month. After a fierce bombardment, the 4th Marine division landed. The Japanese were taken by surprise, and the offensive was regarded as one of the best-executed amphibious operation of the war.

58th Bombardment Wing

Once under American control, a massive construction project was begun on the island, and the Japanese airfield was repaired and expanded, being named as West Field due to its geographical location. West Field became operationally ready in the early spring of 1945, and the

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization an ...

58th Bombardment Wing was assigned to the field, being reassigned from Hijli Base Area,

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 ...

. The 58th Bomb Wing had been operating from airfields in India, and at times staging through fields in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

since the summer of 1944 as part of

Operation Matterhorn Operation Matterhorn was a military operation of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II for the strategic bombing of Japanese forces by B-29 Superfortresses based in India and China. Targets included Japan itself, and Japanese bases ...

. The groups had struck such Japanese targets as transportation centers, naval installations, iron works, and aircraft plants in

Burma 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 ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the Netherlands East Indies, and

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

. However, By late 1944, it was becoming apparent that B-29 operations against Japan staged out of bases in India and China were far too expensive in men and materials and would have to be stopped. In December 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the decision that the 58th Bombardment Wing's B-29s would be moved to the newly captured islands in the Marianas in the central Pacific with airfields built on them to support their operations. The 58th Bomb Wing flew its last operations from India and China on 8 February 1945. From West Field, the 58th Bomb Wing consisted of the assigned groups: * 40th Bombardment Group (Triangle S) * 444th Bombardment Group (Triangle N) * 462d Bombardment Group (Triangle U) * 468th Bombardment Group (Triangle I) B-29s of the wing initiated strategic bombardment operations directly against the

. Its units made daylight attacks from high altitudes on strategic targets, participated in nighttime incendiary raids on urban areas, and dropped mines in Japanese shipping lanes. After the Japanese surrender, groups of the 58th Bomb Wing dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war in Japan, Korea, and Formosa, and took part in show of force missions. Beginning in September, the vast majority of its fleet of B-29 superfortresses were returned to the United States as part of "Operation Sunset". The 58th Bomb Wing returned to the United States on 15 November 1945, and its subordinate units were either inactivated or reassigned to other bases in Okinawa or returned to the United States. With the departure of the B-29s, West Field was placed in a standby, caretaker status.

West Field today

With the departure of the USAAF in 1946, a part of the former wartime airfield was converted to a commercial airport and for general aviation use. Tinian is still considered an important strategic asset by the US to ensure the ongoing availability of a potential forward basing location in the Pacific. Plans were made in 1974 to re-establish a military presence on Tinian, with a joint-service base taking over almost 3/4 of the island. Those plans never materialized, however in 1983, a lease agreement covering these lands was signed and the United States DoD assumed control and possession over the northern two-thirds of Tinian. The lease agreement was for 50 years, with a renewal option for an additional 50 years. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

leases the area north of the Airport for artillery training, and offers tours of the area when not being used for training. In 2013, the United States Marine Corps Wing Support Squadron-171 conducted an arrestment landing exercise using two M-31 Marine Corps expeditionary aircraft

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOB ...

systems, said systems being similar to those on aircraft carriers, on 5 December at Tinian's West Field during Exercise Forager Fury II.Marines complete arrested landings on Tinian
/ref>

References

Sources

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. * Rust, Kenn C. Twentieth Air Force Story...in World War II. Temple City, California: Historical Aviation Album, 1979. .
www.pacificwrecks.com

External links