Porac 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 located at
Porac
Porac, officially the Municipality of Porac (; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,751 people.
History
Pora ...
to the east of the Porac River in the
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
on the island of
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. It was closed after the war.
History
Porac Airfield was a single runway airfield prior to the war. A taxiway ran parallel to the runway, with a dispersal area near the northern end of the strip. It was used by the Japanese during their occupation. Late in the war, after liberation, it was used by combined Filipino and American military units in early 1945, such as the USAAF
58th Fighter Group (18 April-10 July 1945), and the
375th Troop Carrier Group (20 May–August 1945). Porac was also used by the
201st Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, flying
P-47 Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
s.
The airfield was abandoned after the war and is now part of the town, with the runway being used as a road.
See also
*
USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
References
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
www.pacificwrecks.com
External links
Defunct airports in the Philippines
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Philippines
Military history of the Philippines during World War II
Military facilities in Pampanga
History of Pampanga
Military airbases established in 1940
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