West Field is a former

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 on

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

in the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

. Today, West Field is used as the civilian Tinian International Airport. West Field at Tinian Naval Base was a base for

Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Intercon ...

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

operations against the

Japanese Home Islands The is an archipelago of 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China and Philippine seas in the southwest along the Pacific coast of the Eurasian continent, and cons ...

in 1944–45 and the base for the

58th Bombardment Wing.

History

Tinian, with its sister islands of the Marianas, had passed through Spanish and German hands prior to becoming a protectorate of Japan following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Under Japanese administration, Tinian was largely a sugar plantation. The island had two good airfields with a third under construction by the Japanese in 1944. West Field originated as the Japanese Gurguan Point Airfield, having two parallel runways. By mid-1944, the Americans had advanced inside the Japanese ring of defense in the Pacific Theater. On Tinian, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

could establish bases to conduct long-range strategic offensive air operations over the

with the new

. The island was assaulted on 24 July 1944 by

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...

from

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, which had just been taken the previous month. After a fierce bombardment, the 4th Marine Division landed. The Japanese were taken by surprise, and the offensive was regarded as one of the best-executed amphibious operations of the war.

58th Bombardment Wing

Once under American control, a massive construction project was begun on the island, and the Japanese airfield was repaired and expanded, being named as West Field because of its geographical location. West Field became operationally ready in the early spring of 1945, and the

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and ...

58th Bombardment Wing was assigned to the field, being reassigned from Hijli Base Area, India. The 58th Bomb Wing had been operating from airfields in India, and at times staging through fields in China since the summer of 1944 as part of

Operation Matterhorn Operation Matterhorn was a military operation of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II for strategic bombing of Japan by Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers based in India, Ceylon, and China. Targets included industrial fac ...

. The groups had struck such Japanese targets as transportation centers, naval installations, iron works, and aircraft plants in Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, the Netherlands East Indies, and Formosa. However, by late 1944 it was becoming apparent that B-29 operations against Japan staged out of bases in India and China were far too expensive in men and materials and would have to be stopped. In December 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the decision that the 58th Bombardment Wing's B-29s would be moved to the newly captured islands in the Marianas in the Central Pacific with airfields built on them to support their operations. The 58th Bomb Wing flew its last operations from India and China on 8 February 1945. From West Field, the 58th Bomb Wing consisted of the assigned groups: *

40th Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

(Triangle S) * 444th Bombardment Group (Triangle N) * 462d Bombardment Group (Triangle U) *

468th Bombardment Group The 468th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Ocean theater and China Burma India Theater of World War II as p ...

(Triangle I) B-29s of the wing initiated strategic bombardment operations directly against the Japanese Home Islands. Its units made daylight attacks from high altitudes on strategic targets, participated in nighttime incendiary raids on urban areas, and dropped mines in Japanese shipping lanes. After the Japanese surrender, groups of the 58th Bomb Wing dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war in Japan, Korea, and Formosa, and took part in show of force missions. Beginning in September, the vast majority of its fleet of B-29 Superfortresses were returned to the United States as part of "Operation Sunset". The 58th Bomb Wing returned to the United States on 15 November 1945, and its subordinate units were either inactivated or reassigned to other bases in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

or returned to the United States. With the departure of the B-29s, West Field was placed in a standby, caretaker status.

Present

With the departure of the USAAF in 1946, a part of the former wartime airfield was converted to a commercial airport and for general aviation use. Tinian is still considered an important strategic asset by the U.S. to ensure the ongoing availability of a potential

forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and othe ...

in the Pacific. Plans were made in 1974 to re-establish a military presence on Tinian, with a joint-service base taking over almost 3/4 of the island. Those plans never materialized, however in 1983, a lease agreement covering these lands was signed and the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

assumed control and possession over the northern two-thirds of Tinian. The lease agreement was for 50 years, with a renewal option for an additional 50 years. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

leases the area north of the airport for artillery training and offers tours of the area when not being used for training. In 2013, the United States Marine Corps Wing Support Squadron-171 conducted an arrestment landing exercise using two M-31 Marine Corps expeditionary aircraft

arresting gear An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

systems, said systems being similar to those on aircraft carriers, on 5 December at Tinian's West Field during Exercise Forager Fury II.Marines complete arrested landings on Tinian
/ref>

Notes

References

* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. * Rust, Kenn C. Twentieth Air Force Story...in World War II. Temple City, California: Historical Aviation Album, 1979. .
www.pacificwrecks.com

External links