Manbulloo 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 ...

airfield built at Manbulloo Station, near

Katherine, Northern Territory Katherine is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated on the Katherine River, after which it is named, southeast of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. The Northern Territory#Cities and towns, fourth largest settlement in ...

History

Works on the airfield were initially undertaken by the 43rd Engineer Regiment (

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary 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 the United Stat ...

) in April 1942. 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 ...

completed the works and the airfield was operational by 19 May 1942. The runway was . The

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 ...

s from the 529th and

530th Bombardment Squadron The 530th Combat Crew Training Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 380th Bombardment Wing at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1991. The squadron (aviation), ...

s moved to Manbulloo shortly after arriving from the United States in April 1943, with headquarters of their parent unit, the 380th Bomb Group being at

Fenton Airfield Fenton Airfield was a World War II military airfield in the Northern Territory of Australia located at Tipperary Station in what is now the locality of Douglas-Daly and named after Flight Lieutenant Clyde Fenton. Abandoned since 1945, the ...

. With the Northern Territory being subjected to the occasional Japanese air raid at the time, it was decided to disperse the operational squadrons over several airfields. From Manbulloo Airfield the squadron attacked Japanese airfields, ground installations, shipping, and industries 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 ...

and the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about . History The first inhabitants of the archipela ...

. Other missions included disruption of enemy sea channels; dropping photoflash bombs and propaganda pamphlets. Both squadrons were reassigned to Long Airfield in late 1943. The airfield was closed in 1944 and apparently abandoned. Today from the air no wartime buildings, taxiways or hardstands are evident, only the remains of the main NW-SE runway exist which is being used as an access road to an irrigated mango plantation, which was planted in 1972, the first commercial mango plantation in NT, it is now owned by Manbulloo Limited who export mangoes around the world. The remains of what appears to be a second runway (NNW-SSE) is faintly visible in aerial photography, along with some roads possibly a part of the airfield are also faintly visible. No evidence of a containment area is visible. An access road to the airfield is joined to the

Victoria Highway The Victoria Highway links the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The highway is a part of the Perth– Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1, and is par ...

, however, the airfield is on private property as part of the million hectare cattle property Manbulloo Station. On 12 June 2010, the airfield's operations centre and abattoir was listed 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 ...

Units based at Manbulloo Airfield

529th Bombardment Squadron The 529th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 380th Bombardment Wing at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated on 1 September 1991. The squadron (aviation), squa ...

(

380th Bombardment Group 38 may refer to: *38 (number) *38 BC *AD 38 *1938 *2038 Science * Strontium, an alkaline earth metal in the periodic table * 38 Leda, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges ** .38 Special, a re ...

), (28 April-7 November 1943) *

531st Bombardment Squadron The 531st Bombardment Squadron was a unit of the US Air Force, first activated during World War II. After training as a heavy bomber unit in the United States, it moved to the Southwest Pacific Theater, entering combat in May 1943, flying comb ...

(380th Bombardment Group), (28 April-5 December 1943) * No. 24 Squadron RAAF *

No. 34 Squadron RAAF No. 34 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) VIP transport squadron. It operates Boeing 737 Business Jets and Dassault Falcon 7Xs from Defence Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra. The squadron was formed in February 1942 f ...

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * 5

External links

OzatWar Website
{{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 Heritage Register

History

Units based at Manbulloo Airfield

See also

References

External links