Xinjin Airport () is an airport in
Xinjin District
Xinjin District () is a District of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. It borders the prefecture-level city of Meishan to the south.
Transport
*Line 10 (Chengdu Metro)
*Xinjin Airport
Xinjin Airport () is an airport in Xinjin District, in th ...
, in the southwestern part of
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...
, in
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
province of China. The airfield is located approximately 2 km east of the Xinjin District seat, just east of the
China National Highway 108
China National Highway 108 (G108) is a National Highway which connects Beijing through Chengdu to Kunming. In Beijing it is known as Jingyuan Road.
It leaves Beijing at Fuxingmen and heads for Yamenkou, before heading into hillier terrain and le ...
. A former military airfield, it is now used by
Civil Aviation Flight University of China
Civil Aviation Flight University of China (abbreviated CAFUC) is the largest civil aviation university in Asia and the world's largest flight training institution. It is under the direct leadership of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAA ...
for pilot training.
[重返新津机场美国老兵泪光闪烁](_blank)
History
The airfield was first constructed in 1928, served as a base for
Republic of China Air Force
The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based i ...
Polikarpov I-15
The Polikarpov I-15 (russian: И-15) was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (''russian: Чайка'', "Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was o ...
and
I-16 I16 may refer to:
* Interstate 16, an interstate highway in the U.S. state of Georgia
* Polikarpov I-16, a Soviet fighter aircraft introduced in the 1930s
* Halland Regiment
* , a Japanese Type C submarine
* i16, a name for the 16-bit signed integ ...
fighters in defense of
Chengdu and Chongqing against Imperial Japanese aerial raids during the
War of Resistance-World War II, and then upgraded in 1940 and again in 1943 after the U.S. entered the war following the
Pearl Harbor attack
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
.
The facility was them operated by the
United States Army Air Force
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 ...
XX Bomber Command
The XX Bomber Command was a United States Army Air Forces bomber formation. Its last assignment was with Twentieth Air Force, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on 16 July 1945.
History
The idea of basing Boeing B-29 Superfortresses in C ...
beginning in March 1944. It was then known as Hsinching Airfield (A-1), and was the forward staging base for the
40th Bombardment Group
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 ...
, which carried out
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 ...
raids on 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 ...
. It was one of four B-29 bases established by the Americans in China.
![40th Bombardment Group Boeing B-29-5-BW Superfortress 42-6281](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/40th_Bombardment_Group_Boeing_B-29-5-BW_Superfortress_42-6281.jpg)
Staging through Hsinching from its base at
Chakulia
Chakulia or Chakuliya is a Notified Area Council (NAC) an4thMunicipal Corporation in the Ghatshila subdivision of the East Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand, India.It is 71 km from Jamshedpur city, the district headquarter.
Chakulia ...
,
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 ...
, on June 15 the group participated in the first American Air Force attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the
Doolittle raid
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first American air operation to strike the Japan ...
in 1942. Operating from bases in India, and at times staging through fields in China, the group struck such 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 ...
,
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 ...
, Japan,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, 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 ...
, receiving a
Distinguished Unit Citation
The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...
for bombing iron and steel works at
Yawata
is a city located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. the city has an estimated population of 70,433 and a population density of 2,893 persons per km². The total area is 24.35 km².
The city was founded on November 1, 1977 and currently has a s ...
, Japan, on August 20, 1944.
Effective 6 April 1944, Hsinching Airfield was also the forward headquarters of XX Bomber Command while its rear echelon remained at
Kharagpur Airfield
Kalaikunda Air Force Station
is an Indian Air Force Base in Kharagpur, located in the West Midnapur district of the state of West Bengal. It was the home of No. 18 Squadron IAF, the Flying Bullets. The squadron flew the Indian license-bui ...
in India. When the B-29 bombers were moved from India in February 1945 to the newly captured bases in the
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
, the B-29 use of Hsinching Airfield ended.
The
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 ...
24th Combat Mapping Squadron established a detachment at the airfield in March 1944 to photograph bombing targets both before and after XX Bomber Command missions. In December 1944, the unit was replaced by Flight "C",
1st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to:
*1 (number), a number, a numeral
*001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent
*001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986)
*AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...
(Very Long Range), which remained until May 1945.
From 2nd WRS Squadron History obtained from Air Force Historical Research Agency
At the request of the XX Bomber Command, preparations for sending a 2nd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron flight to China began during the latter part of November (1944). It was decided that "C" Flight, with Capt Jean W Dixon as flight commander would undertake the initial assignment in the forward area. The flight consisted of Capt Dixon and crew, 1st Lt Joseph Shannon and crew, and 1st Lt James R Malin and crew with B-25D aircraft nos. 673, 674 and 675. On 22 November, key ground personnel of "C" flight arrived at Hsing Ching Army Air Base, while the squadron aircraft arrived 25 November.
"C" flight operations were so arranged as to provide weather recon of the North China sectors several days prior to the first B-29 raid in each of the series of missions run by the XX Bomber Command from the Chengtu area. Recon to the North continued a day prior to the actual running of the B-29 missions. Our aircraft provided a route weather coverage within a radius of action, with particular attention given to icing conditions, cloud levels, and turbulence and winds, together with a visual check of the predetermined rendezvous area.
Also the
Fourteenth Air Force
The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The command was responsible for the organizatio ...
1st Combat Cargo Squadron performed special operation cargo drops from the airfield during the spring (January-Mar) 1945 with C-47s.
The Americans used the airfield as a communications station for the remainder of the war, and turned over the airfield to the Chinese government on 29 August 1945.
See also
*
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 i ...
References
*
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
Airfields & Seaplane Anchorages China
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Airports in Sichuan
Transport in Chengdu
Airports established in 1928
1928 establishments in China
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in China