MacDonald Airfield was an airfield built alongside the former northern road, west of
Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Aust ...
, north of
Pine Creek, Northern Territory
Pine Creek is a small town in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia. As at the 2016 Census there were 328 residents of Pine Creek, which is the fourth largest town between Darwin and Alice Springs.
Pine Creek is just of ...
,
Australia 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 ...
.
History
The airfield was constructed by the
43rd Engineer Regiment (
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...
) in March 1942 with further improvements undertaken by the
808th Engineer Aviation Battalion
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
between 11 May 1942 and 16 July 1942 and later by the
Allied Works Council and
No 1 Airfield Construction Unit RAAF
No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles:
English language
* ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses)
* A determiner in noun phrases
Alphanumeric symbols
* No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script
* No symbol, displayed � ...
.
Originally known as ''Burkholder Field'', the runway was long and wide. Renamed MacDonald Airfield in honour of
Wing Commander
Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historic ...
Joshua Roger Gray McDonald of
No. 13 Squadron RAAF who was killed at
Laha on 10 December 1941.
The
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
occupied the base on 24 November 1942 when
No. 54 Operational Base Unit administered the base.
The airfield became an
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
communication camp and was abandoned in 1945.
Image:McDonald Airfield - Layout.jpg, MacDonald Airfield Layout
Units based at MacDonald Airfield
*
43rd Engineer Regiment (US Army)
*
808th Engineer Aviation Battalion
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
*
No. 1 Airfield Construction Unit RAAF
The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...
*
No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF
No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian bomber squadron of World War II. Formed in April 1942, the squadron was staffed by a mixture of Dutch and Australian personnel and placed under Royal Australian Air Forc ...
(
B-25
The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...
) – (18 January 1943 until 7 May 1943)
*
No. 54 Operational Base Unit RAAF
See also
*
List of airports in the Northern Territory
This is a list of airports in the Australian territory of the Northern Territory.
__TOC__
List of airports
The list is sorted by the name of the community served, click the sort buttons in the table header to switch listing order. Airports n ...
References
Pacific War Wrecks Database
Former Royal Australian Air Force bases
World War II airfields in Australia
Defunct airports in the Northern Territory
Airports established in 1942
1942 establishments in Australia
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