Huaihua Zhijiang Airport is an airport serving the city of Huaihua in

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. It is located in

Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County (), usually referred to as Zhijiang County () is an autonomous county of the Dong people in Hunan Province, China. It is under the administration of Huaihua prefecture-level city. Zhijiang is located on the wes ...

, 31 kilometers from the city center. The airport was built in 1942 and was the second largest military airfield in the Far East for the Allies 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.Hunan Zhijiang Airport to officially open
/ref> On 21 August 1945 Japan officially surrendered to China near the airfield. Construction to convert the airport for civilian use was started in December 2002 and the airport was reopened in September 2004.

Airlines and destinations

World War II

During

, the airport was known as Chihkiang (Chih Kiang) Airfield (which is the Wade-Giles transcription of the same name) 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 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 organiza ...

as part of the China Defensive Campaign (1942–1945). Its primary use by the Americans was as an airborne photo-reconnaissance and as a transport airfield. Chihkiang Air Base was also the headquarters of the

Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) (CACW), whose squadrons flew

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

aircraft. The operational units of the CACW were jointly commanded by both American and Chinese air force officers, and the unit's aircraft were jointly manned by American and Chinese pilots and air crewmen. On 10 April 1945, the Japanese started an offensive for Chihkiang, however, by 10 May the CACW had attacked and mauled the Japanese forces so severely, the Japanese had to retreat to Paoching.USAFHRA document 00056109
/ref> The Americans closed their facilities at the airport in early October 1945.

References

{{authority control Airports in Hunan Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in China Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in China Transport in Huaihua

Airlines and destinations

World War II

See also

References