229:. The groups had struck such Japanese targets as transportation centers, naval installations, iron works, and aircraft plants in Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, the Netherlands East Indies, and Formosa. However, by late 1944 it was becoming apparent that B-29 operations against Japan staged out of bases in India and China were far too expensive in men and materials and would have to be stopped. In December 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the decision that the 58th Bombardment Wing's B-29s would be moved to the newly captured islands in the Marianas in the Central Pacific with airfields built on them to support their operations. The 58th Bomb Wing flew its last operations from India and China on 8 February 1945.
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Beginning in
September, the vast majority of its fleet of B-29 Superfortresses were returned to the United States as part of "Operation Sunset". The 58th Bomb Wing returned to the United States on 15 November 1945, and its subordinate units were either inactivated or reassigned to other bases in
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B-29s of the wing initiated strategic bombardment operations directly against the
Japanese Home Islands. Its units made daylight attacks from high altitudes on strategic targets, participated in nighttime incendiary raids on urban areas, and dropped mines in Japanese shipping lanes. After the
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leases the area north of the airport for artillery training and offers tours of the area when not being used for training. In 2013, the United States Marine Corps Wing
Support Squadron-171 conducted an arrestment landing exercise using two M-31 Marine Corps expeditionary aircraft
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With the departure of the USAAF in 1946, a part of the former wartime airfield was converted to a commercial airport and for general aviation use. Tinian is still considered an important strategic asset by the U.S. to ensure the ongoing availability of a potential
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in the
Pacific. Plans were made in 1974 to re-establish a military presence on Tinian, with a joint-service base taking over almost 3/4 of the island. Those plans never materialized, however in 1983, a lease agreement covering these lands was signed and the
169:. Under Japanese administration, Tinian was largely a sugar plantation. The island had two good airfields with a third under construction by the Japanese in 1944. West Field originated as the Japanese Gurguan Point Airfield, having two parallel runways.
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Japanese surrender, groups of the 58th Bomb Wing dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war in Japan, Korea, and
Formosa, and took part in show of force missions.
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assumed control and possession over the northern two-thirds of Tinian. The lease agreement was for 50 years, with a renewal option for an additional 50 years.
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Once under
American control, a massive construction project was begun on the island, and the Japanese airfield was repaired and expanded, being named as
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Tinian, with its sister islands of the
Marianas, had passed through Spanish and German hands prior to becoming a protectorate of Japan following
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The 58th Bomb Wing had been operating from airfields in India, and at times staging through fields in China since the summer of 1944 as part of
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landed. The
Japanese were taken by surprise, and the offensive was regarded as one of the best-executed amphibious operations of the war.
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systems, said systems being similar to those on aircraft carriers, on 5 December at Tinian's West Field during
Exercise Forager Fury II.
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or returned to the United States. With the departure of the B-29s, West Field was placed in a standby, caretaker status.
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Rust, Kenn C. Twentieth Air Force Story...in World War II. Temple City, California: Historical
Aviation Album, 1979.
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32:
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Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
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because of its geographical location. West Field became operationally ready in the early spring of 1945, and the
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Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II
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Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002.
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could establish bases to conduct long-range strategic offensive air operations over the
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By mid-1944, the Americans had advanced inside the Japanese ring of defense in the
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was assigned to the field, being reassigned from Hijli Base Area, India.
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From West Field, the 58th Bomb Wing consisted of the assigned groups:
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Former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands
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188:. The island was assaulted on 24 July 1944 by
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128:. Today, West Field is used as the civilian
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364:Marines complete arrested landings on Tinian
276:Personnel living quarters, West Field, 1945
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19:For the civil use of the airfield, see
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316:United States Department of Defense
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147:in 1944–45 and the base for the
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53:West Field, Tinian, 8 July 1945
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864:United States Army Air Forces
178:United States Army Air Forces
85:United States Army Air Forces
345:USAAF in the Central Pacific
130:Tinian International Airport
21:Tinian International Airport
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587:Northwest Airfield (Guam)
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572:Isely Airfield (Saipan)
255:468th Bombardment Group
243:444th Bombardment Group
151:58th Bombardment Wing.
143:operations against the
592:West Airfield (Tinian)
567:Harmon Airfield (Guam)
311:forward operating base
249:462d Bombardment Group
237:40th Bombardment Group
38:Gurguan Point Airfield
577:North Airfield (Guam)
411:www.pacificwrecks.com
288:B-29s on parking ramp
220:58th Bombardment Wing
204:58th Bombardment Wing
190:United States Marines
182:Japanese Home Islands
145:Japanese Home Islands
340:North Field (Tinian)
227:Operation Matterhorn
535:Kalaikunda Airfield
460:Twentieth Air Force
214:Twentieth Air Force
198:4th Marine Division
138:Twentieth Air Force
46:Twentieth Air Force
525:Dudhkundi Airfield
485:Hsinching Airfield
323:United States Navy
217:XXI Bomber Command
186:B-29 Superfortress
149:B-29 Superfortress
141:B-29 Superfortress
81:Controlled by
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520:Chakulia Airfield
503:Pengshan Airfield
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491:Kwanghan Airfield
176:. On Tinian, the
134:Tinian Naval Base
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71:Military airfield
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161:Battle of Tinian
132:. West Field at
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823:21st Fighter
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464:World War II
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257:(Triangle I)
251:(Triangle U)
245:(Triangle N)
239:(Triangle S)
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120:airfield on
118:World War II
116:is a former
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91:Site history
695:Bombardment
628:VII Fighter
167:World War I
104:In use
29:West Field
936:Fourteenth
931:Thirteenth
638:XXI Bomber
373:References
210:West Field
159:See also:
114:West Field
946:Twentieth
941:Fifteenth
633:XX Bomber
471:Airfields
107:1944–1946
963:Category
921:Eleventh
621:Commands
560:Marianas
334:See also
44:Part of
926:Twelfth
901:Seventh
811:Fighter
304:Present
298:Okinawa
155:History
124:in the
906:Eighth
886:Fourth
876:Second
688:Groups
544:Ceylon
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194:Saipan
122:Tinian
916:Tenth
911:Ninth
896:Sixth
891:Fifth
881:Third
871:First
647:Wings
614:Units
513:India
505:(A-7)
499:(A-5)
493:(A-3)
487:(A-1)
478:China
457:USAAF
351:Notes
192:from
96:Built
401:ISBN
391:ISBN
380:ISBN
321:The
99:1944
68:Type
462:in
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