Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Nukufetau Airfield

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Coordinates
  
(Approximate)

In use
  
1943

Type
  
Military airfield

Year built
  
1943

Controlled by
  
United States Army Air Forces, United States Marine Corps

Nukufetau Airfield is a former World War II airfield on the south-eastern side of Nukufetau on Motulalo Island.

Contents

History

Nukufetau Airfield was built by United States Navy Seabees on Motulalo island as an alternative strip to Nanumea and Funafuti airfields to allow for further dispersal of aircraft in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu). Two intersecting runways formed an "X" shape. On 8 September 1943 the 16th Naval Construction Battalion commenced construction of a fighter strip (3500 feet by 200 feet) and a bomber strip (6100 feet by 220 feet). Nearly 50,000 coconut trees had to be cut down and about 2,000 feet of the runways were built on fill over swamp. The airfield was made operational before November 1943 to aid in the Battle of Tarawa.

United States Marine Corps (USMC) units based at Nukufetau included:

  • Navy Bombing Squadron 108 (VB-108), operating PB4Y-1 Liberators, landed on 7 November 1943
  • Marine Attack Squadron 331 (VMA-331), operating Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, arrived on 15 November 1943

    • United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) using the base included:

  • 26th Bombardment Squadron operating B-24s from 11 November 1943 – 25 January 1944
  • 98th Bombardment Squadron operating B-24s from 11 November 1943 – 20 January 1944

    • Postwar

    The debris from a crashed B-24 Liberator remained on the island. After the Pacific War the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to its owners, however as the coral base was compacted to make the runways the land now provides poor ground for growing coconuts.

    References

    Nukufetau Airfield Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA