Zhanyi Airport () is a former civilian airport and military air base, located about southeast of

Zhanyi Zhanyi District () is a district of the city of Qujing, Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). T ...

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

Province in the

People’s Republic of 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 ...

History

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 opposing ...

, the airport was known as Chanyi (Changyi) Airfield and was used by 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 ...

Fourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign. The airport primarily was a reconnaissance base, with photo mapping and combat aerial photography units flying combat mapping and photo flights over Japanese-held territory from September 1944 until September 1945. In addition, some B-25 Mitchell medium bomber and

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in f ...

transport aircraft used the airport. The Americans closed their facilities at the airport in early October 1945.

Incidents

On October 29, 1940, the

Chungking Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Coun ...

was strafed by Japanese fighters after it landed. Of the 9 passengers and 3 crew, 7 passengers and 2 crew died.Crouch, p
219
- In:

References

* Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983.

USAFHRA search Chanyi

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhanyi Airport Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in China Airports in Yunnan Transport in Qujing