The Noman’s Land Range was a former naval bomb range for aviators, located on

Nomans Land Nomans Land (Massachusett language, Wampanoag: ;; also mapped "No Man's Land," "No Mans Land," or "No Man's island"), is an uninhabited island 612 acres (248 ha) in size, located in the town of Chilmark, Massachusetts, Chilmark, Duke ...

, in

Chilmark, Massachusetts Chilmark is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,212 at the 2020 census. The fishing village of Menemsha is located on the western side of the town along its border with the town ...

History

An airfield was constructed by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

on the southern edge of the island between November 1942 and May 1944, and the island was used, beginning in

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 ...

, as Nomans Land Range for 53 years, 1943-1996. The airfield was abandoned by the U.S. Navy sometime between 1945 and 1954. In 1952 the island was sold by the Crane family to the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. The eastern third of the island has been managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) since 1975. Following an effort to clear the island of ordnance in 1997 and 1998, the rest of the island was transferred to the FWS for use as a wildlife refuge, primarily for migratory birds. It now forms Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge. Two

restricted airspace Restricted airspace is an area of airspace typically used by the military in which the local controlling authorities have determined that air traffic must be restricted or prohibited for safety or security concerns. It is one of many types of s ...

areas, R-4105A and R-4105B, overlaid the island due to the site's former use as a range. These restricted areas were revoked in October 2014.

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= {{cite news , last1 = MacQuarrie , first1 = Brian , date = 2021-07-12 , title = Officials want it to stay Nomans Land , url = http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/officials_want_secluded_island_to_remain_no_mans_land/ , url-status = live , work =

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

, language = en-us , location =

, page = 1 , issn = 0743-1791 , oclc = 66652431 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210317234700/http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/12/officials_want_secluded_island_to_remain_no_mans_land/ , archive-date = 2021-03-17 , access-date = 2021-11-02 , quote = , df = dmy-all

External links

Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge
at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service site *
Annals of Chilmark
',

. From ''The History of Martha's Vineyard'', Volume II by Dr. Charles E. Banks. 1911. Installations of the United States Navy in Massachusetts Military installations closed in the 1990s Bombing ranges Buildings and structures in Dukes County, Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard Closed installations of the United States Navy

History

See also

References

External links