Dulag Airfield

Dulag Airfield
Part of Fifth Air Force
Dulag Airfield Dulag Airfield (Philippines)
Coordinates	10°56′53″N 125°00′37″E / 10.94806°N 125.01028°E / 10.94806; 125.01028
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1943-1945

Dulag Airfield is a World War II airfield located near Dulag in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It was closed after the war.

History

The airfield was built by the Japanese during the Occupation of the Philippines in 1943. Seized by the Americans shortly after the Leyte Landing in November 1944, the runway was improved and widened and the facility was turned into a major base, with a double set of revetments and taxiways to the side of the strip.

Major units assigned were:

• 3d Bombardment Group (16 November-30 December 1944)
• 22d Bombardment Group (15–26 November 1944)
• 345th Bombardment Group (12 November 1944 – 1 January 1945)
• 475th Fighter Group (28 October 1944 – 5 February 1945)
• 2d Combat Cargo Group (May-20 August 1945)
• 317th Troop Carrier Group (17 November 1944 – 17 March 1944)
• 418th Night Fighter Squadron (14–30 November 1944)

It was abandoned after the war and today it is an agricultural area. A road runs along the same position of the main runway.

A memorial is built at the former airfield, with a plaque and an airplane model on a concrete pad. The memorial plaque reads: "World War II Airfield - Brgy. Rawis Dulag, Leyte, Philippines. Constructed by the Japanese Imperial Army supported by free labor from the Dulagnons. Taken over by the Allied liberation forces in 1944, improving and widening the area with steel matting runways. Fighter and bomber planes were stationed here through the war days."

Aerial photo of Dulag airfield, 1944.

See also

• USAAF in the Southwest Pacific

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• www.pacificwrecks.com

External links

USAAF Fifth Air Force in World War II
Previously: Philippine Department Air Force (1941); Far East Air Force (1941-1942)
Airfields	Pacific USAAF in Australia USAAF in the Southwest Pacific USAAF in Okinawa
Units	Commands V Bomber V Fighter 5th Interceptor (Provisional) Wings 54th Troop Carrier 85th Fighter 86th Fighter 91st Reconnaissance 308th Bombardment 309th Bombardment 310th Bombardment Groups Air Commando 3d Air Commando Bombardment 3d Bombardment 7th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 22d Bombardment 27th Bombardment 38th Bombardment 43d Bombardment 90th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 345th Bombardment 380th Bombardment 417th Bombardment Combat Cargo 2d Combat Cargo Fighter 8th Fighter 24th Pursuit 35th Fighter 49th Fighter 58th Fighter 348th Fighter 475th Fighter Reconnaissance 6th Reconnaissance 71st Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 317th Troop Carrier 374th Troop Carrier 375th Troop Carrier 433d Troop Carrier Squadrons Bombardment 31st Bombardment Night Fighter 418th Night Fighter 421st Night Fighter 547th Intelligence Reconnaissance 2d Observation 8th Photographic Reconnaissance 36th Photographic Reconnaissance Troop Carrier 21st Troop Carrier 22d Troop Carrier 65th Troop Carrier 66th Troop Carrier
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