Fenton Airfield was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

military airfield in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

located at

Tipperary Station Tipperary Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about east of Daly River and south of Adelaide River, Northern Territory, Australia. Composed primarily of open grazing land, the property occupies an area ...

in what is now the locality of Douglas-Daly and named after Flight Lieutenant

Clyde Fenton Clyde Cornwall Fenton OBE (16 May 1901 – 28 February 1982) was the Northern Territory's first flying doctor. Unlike the other doctors with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Fenton was also his own pilot. Fenton was a self-tau ...

. Abandoned since 1945, the site is one of three surviving World War II-era heavy bomber airfields in the

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

– Darwin region. The airfield is open to the public, and the main runway, taxiways and hardstands are accessible. Remnants of the control tower remain and aircraft wreckage can be found in the area.

History

The airfield was built by C Company and HQ Detachment of the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion between 27 April 1942 and 16 July 1942. The single runway was . Further development of the airfield was undertaken by No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF, No 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF and the

Department of Main Roads (New South Wales) The Department of Main Roads (DMR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales, responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining major road infrastructure. The DMR directly managed highways and major roads and provided funding to lo ...

under the

Allied Works Council The Allied Works Council was an organisation set up to oversee and organise military construction works in Australia during World War II. Established in February 1942, with their first offices in Melbourne, the Allied Works Council was responsi ...

. The runway was enlarged to approximately , accommodating close to sixty aircraft dispersal bays, some with earthen

revetment A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water an ...

s. It was named after Flight Lieutenant

, a RAAF officer who recommended the site for the airfield. Fenton Airfield was mainly used by Liberator bombers mounting long range raids against

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

forces in the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, the northwestern area of operations, and the

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

. During its operational use, Fenton Airfield served as headquarters for Royal Australian Air Force squadrons and United States Army and Air Force units. Reconnaissance flights beginning at Fenton Airfield were flown over

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

Island,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and

Celebes Islands Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archi ...

, and attacks and armed reconnaissance missions were carried out against Japanese airfields, ground installations and shipping. On 29 February 1944 the USAAF 380th Bombardment Group flew a 16-hour mission from Fenton to

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, flying over . The airfield was abandoned at the end of World War II. Over the years, it has reverted to the natural terrain from which it was built. The base infrastructure is gone; only concrete, building foundations, piles of rubble and occasional aircraft parts remain. In aerial photographs, the remains of some roads that likely led to dispersed parts of the base, such as the bomb dump and the administrative containment area, are faintly visible, but no structures remain. Long Airfield was listed on the now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

on 25 March 1986 and on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the '' Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained ...

on 11 September 1996.

Units based at Fenton Airfield

* No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF * No. 6 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF * No. 11 Signals Unit RAAF * No. 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF *

No. 21 Squadron RAAF No. 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron RAAF is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Airbase Operations squadron. Formed in the mid-1930s as a unit of the part-time Citizen Air Force (CAF), it was mobilised for service during World War II, when it s ...

(

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

) *

No. 23 Squadron RAAF No. 23 (City of Brisbane) Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is a non-flying base operations and training squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley near Brisbane, Queensland. The squadron was formed in 1937 and saw action agai ...

(B-24) * No. 24 Squadron RAAF (B-24) *

82nd Wing RAAF 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

(No.'s 21, 23 & 24 Squadrons RAAF) * 133 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery Australian Army *

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 ...

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

: 64th Bombardment Squadron (

43d Bombardment Group The Poor Relief Act 1601 ( 43 Eliz. 1. c. 2) was an act of the Parliament of England. The act, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, the "43rd Elizabeth", or the "Old Poor Law", was passed in 1601 and created a poor law system for Engl ...

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

2 August-25 September 1942 : 43d Materiel Squadron : 319th Bombardment Squadron ( 90th Bombardment Group),

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

, 5 February-23 June 1943 :: Deployed from:

RAAF Base Darwin RAAF Base Darwin is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located in the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The base shares its runway with Darwin International Airport, for civil aviation purposes. The h ...

, NT : 380th Bombardment Group,

, May 1943-9 August 1944 :: 528th Bombardment Squadron, 28 April 1943 – 20 August 1944 :: 529th Bombardment Squadron ::: Assigned to: Manbulloo Airfield, NT, 28 April-7 November 1943 ::: Assigned to: Long Airfield, NT, 7 November-10 July 1944 ::: Assigned to:

, NT, 10 July–February 1945 :: 530th Bombardment Squadron :: 531st Bombardment Squadron ::: Assigned to: Manbulloo Airfield, NT, 28 April-5 December 1943 ::: Assigned to: Long Airfield, NT, 5 December-21 July 1944 ::: Assigned to:

, NT, 25 July-1 March 1945 * 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

* 404th Quartermaster Air Depot Platoon,

Japanese Bombing Raids on Fenton Airfield

*30 June 1943 (12:30pm) *6 July 1943 (12:02pm) *13 August 1943 (9:45pm) *13 August 1943 (11:12 pm) *21 August 1943 (03:07 am) *15 September 1943 (00:25 am) *18 September 1943 (03:50 am)

References

Pacific War Wrecks DatabaseNorthern Territory Attractions
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . *
US Air Force Historical Research Agency records search

External links

{{authority control Former Royal Australian Air Force bases Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Australia World War II airfields in Australia Defunct airports in the Northern Territory Airports established in 1942 1942 establishments in Australia Northern Territory places listed on the defunct Register of the National Estate Northern Territory Heritage Register

History

Units based at Fenton Airfield

Japanese Bombing Raids on Fenton Airfield

See also

References

External links