Vultee BT-13 Valiant F206 at Gardner Field CA

Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were a number of airfields used during

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 ...

to support the Minter Army Airfield (now the Shafter Airport) near

Shafter, California Shafter is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is located west-northwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. The population was 16,988 at the 2010 census, up from 12,736 at the 2000 census. The city is located along Califo ...

. Minter Army Airfield was also called Lerdo Field, after the nearby road. Minter Army Airfield also housed the Shafter Gap Filler Annex P-59A and Shafter Army Aviation Test Activity and opened in June 1941. An Army depot open on the base in October 1941, the Minter Sub-Depot, a division of the Sacramento Air Depot. Minter Army Airfield had 7,000 troops and civilians working at the base.

Naming

Minter Army Airfield was named after First Lieutenant Hugh C. Minter, a World War I veteran killed in a mid-air collision at March Field in July 1932. The Army built three 4,500-foot

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s on the 1,466-acre site, to support training activities need for

. Also at Airfield were built three square landing mat. The From Minter Army Airfield the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

Western Flying Training Command The Army Air Forces Western Flying Training Command (WFTC) was a command of the United States Army Air Forces. It was assigned to the Army Air Forces Training Command, stationed at Santa Ana Army Air Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 No ...

started training the needed

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s. To support the training of the many pilots, Minter Army Airfield operated a number of auxiliary airfields. Some auxiliary fields were no more than a landing strip, others were other operation airfield that supported the training at the Minter Army Airfield. The

Vultee BT-13 Valiant The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of th ...

and

Boeing-Stearman Model 75 The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is an American biplane formerly used as a military Trainer (aircraft), trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary o ...

were the most common plane used for training at Minter Army Airfields, but large bombers were trained also. Minter Army Airfield auxiliary fields were:

Wasco Auxiliary Field

Wasco Auxiliary Field or Wasco Field No. 1 was a satellite airfield of Minter Field, 1.5 miles north the town of

Wasco, California Wasco (formerly, Dewey and Deweyville) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California, United States. Wasco is located northwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 27,047 at the 20 ...

, at at an elevation of . The US Army leased the small 40-acre Wasco Airport and 120 acres north of the airport from Kern County on June 16, 1941. Minter Field was 12 miles to the southeast of Wasco Field. The Army built a five-runway landing mat on the site, with no other improvements. In 1944 Pond Field was closed and the lease ended on June 30, 1951. The Wasco Auxiliary Field is now the

Wasco-Kern County Airport Wasco Airport , also known as Wasco-Kern County Airport, is a public airport located northwest of Wasco, serving Kern County, California, USA. This general aviation airport covers and has one runway. History Wasco Auxiliary Field or Wasco Fi ...

a single runway on a public airport.

Pond Auxiliary Field

Pond Auxiliary Field or Pond Field No. 2 or was a satellite airfield of Minter Field, just south/west of the town of

Pond, California Pond is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. It is located north of Wasco, at an elevation of . Pond was established around 1889. A post office opened at Pond in 1912. Merle Haggard's song "The Train Never ...

, at . The US Army leased 158 acres from Kern County on June 16, 1941. Minter Field was 16 miles southeast of Pond Field. The Army built a 5 runway landing mat on the site, with no other improvements. On August 8, 1942, Stewart Smith was killed while approaching Pond Field, he was with the 525th School Squadron, his plane stalled 6 miles west of Pond Field on. In May 1944 Pond Field was closed and the lease ended. Pond Field was located at what is now northeast of the intersection of Peterson Road & Magnolia Avenue, in Pond, California. There is no trace of the airfield and the land is now used for agriculture.

Famoso Auxiliary Field

Famoso Auxiliary Field or ''Minter Auxiliary Field No. 3 was a satellite airfield of Minter Field for flight training. Famoso Auxiliary Field was located 2 miles north of

Famoso, California Famoso ( Spanish for "Famous") is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is located on Poso Creek south-southeast of McFarland, at an elevation of . Famoso is located at the junction of State Route 99 and the eastern term ...

, and 24 miles north-northwest of

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

in Kern County at . The US Army acquired 500 acres from County of Kern on July 1, 1941. Minter Field / Lerdo Field is 9 miles to the south of Famoso Auxiliary Field. The Army built a 3,000 × 3,000-foot landing area, three buildings: Stage House, Crash Truck Shelter and Latrine. Pilot Leroy McDonald was killed in an A BT-13 trainer crash at Famoso Field on April 22, 1942, on plane serial no. 41–10699. After the war, Famoso Auxiliary Field was closed and there is no trace of the former landing mat. Famoso Auxiliary Field was at what is now east of Highway 99 and south of Whistler Road.

Dunlap Auxiliary Field

DunlapFieldJasminLandingField CA1944 Army

Dunlap Auxiliary Field also called Minter Field Auxiliary Field No. 4 and Jasmin Field was a satellite airfield of

Minter Field Minter may refer to: Places in the United States *Minter, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Minter Village, California, an unincorporated community *Minter City, Mississippi Minter City is an unincorporated community in Leflore County and ...

. Located in Jasmin, California in

Kern County Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

at . Dunlap Auxiliary Field was 19 miles south-southwest of Minter Field at an elevation of 530 feet. Dunlap Auxiliary Field was open in 1941 on a 210.22 acres site and used to train

pilots in landing and take off. The site was also used as emergency landing airfield. The runway was a square mat 2,640 feet by 2640 feet. The mat was used for

trainer bi-planes. No improvements were built at the airfield. There were two crash accidents at Dunlap Field, a BT-13 trainer crash-landed on April 8, 1942, the planes serial no. was 41–9665, piloted by William Raabe. A

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

AT-6C trainer crashed at Dunlap Field on July 23, 1945, it was serial no. 42–3911, piloted by Kay Nelson. After the war the field was closed on 8 October 1946 and no trace of the airfield can be seen today. The Dunlap Auxiliary Field was located at the present-day site of (north of) Hart Avenue and between Kyte Avenue and Quality Road, one mile east of Jasmin in a vineyard of Pandol and Sons. The site is between

California State Route 99 State Route 99 (SR 99) is a major north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. From its southern end at Interstate 5 (I-5) near Wheeler Ridge to its northe ...

and

California State Route 65 State Route 65 (SR 65) is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is composed of two segments in the Central Valley. The southern segment begins at SR 99, near Bakersfield and terminates at SR 198 near Exeter. It also ...

Semitropic Auxiliary Field

Semitropic Auxiliary Field or Semitropic Auxiliary Field No. 5 was a satellite airfield of Minter Field for flight training. Semitropic Auxiliary Field was 7 miles southeast of Minter Field. Semitropic Auxiliary Field was located 8 miles west of

at in

at an elevation of 265 feet. In 1942 the US Army acquired 600 acres of land for the runway from 11 landowners. The Army built: crash truck shelter, stage house, latrines, 3,000 by 3,000-foot landing mat and a runway. One crash happened one mile north of the runway on October 24, 1943, Otto Piepnbrink was killed in a BT-13A trainer, he was with the 324th Basic Flight Training Squadron. At the end of the war the land was sold on November 20, 1946. There is no trace of the airfield and the land is now used for agriculture by three owners.

Poso Auxiliary Field

Poso Auxiliary Field or Poso Field Aux No. 6 was a satellite training airfield of Minter Field, just south-east of the town of Poso, California, renamed

at at an elevation of 635 feet. Poso Auxiliary Field is west of

. Minter Field was 7 miles to the southwest of Poso Auxiliary Field. Poso Auxiliary Field covered 400 acres. A 3,000 by 3,000 landing mat was built in 1942. Poso Auxiliary Field was closed on October 8, 1946. In 1950 the west of runway became the

Famoso Raceway The Famoso Bakersfield Raceway dragstrip is located in McFarland, California just north of Bakersfield, California, and is known historically as the home to the annual March Meet, also known as the U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships. The strip, loc ...

, a

Dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

. The east side became Poso Airport, also called the Poso-Kern County Airport.

Lost Hills Auxiliary Field

Lost Hills Auxiliary Field or Lost Hills Field No. 7 was a satellite airfield of Minter Field, just north of the town of

Lost Hills, California Lost Hills (formerly, Lost Hill) is a unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Lost Hills is located west-northwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of . For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has de ...

at . In 1942 the

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet ...

received the free use of land from Mrs. Jean Atkinson on November 5, 1942. Later in 1943 the Army added 288.26 acres of free land was received from Standard Oil Company of California on August 30, 1943. The Army built a 5,000-foot runway and a 1,600-foot clay landing strip at Lost Hills Auxiliary Field. The 5,000-foot runway was used for training bomber pilots like the

North American B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allies of World War ...

and

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...

. Lost Hills Auxiliary Field was closed on January 11, 1945, and became the Lost Hills Airport a public airport.

References

Sources

* Manning, Thomas A. (2005), ''History of Air Education and Training Command, 1942–2002''. Office of History and Research, Headquarters, AETC, Randolph AFB, Texas * Shaw, Frederick J. (2004), ''Locating Air Force Base Sites, History's Legacy'', Air Force History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington DC. {{USAAF 4th Air Force World War II 1940s in California United States in World War II