Gusap Airport
Encyclopedia
Gusap Airport is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
. located at the base of the Finisterre Range. It has no scheduled commercial airline service.
, and was developed into major base consisting of ten airstrips and numerous facilities for fighters and light bombers of the Fifth Air Force
. Later during the war, the airfield was also a base for Royal Australian Air Force aircraft. The base was built around eight grass runways, with 180 revetments in the complex. The airstrip at Gusap "paid for itself many times over in the quantity of Japanese aircraft, equipment and personnel destroyed by Allied attack missions projected from it."
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. located at the base of the Finisterre Range. It has no scheduled commercial airline service.
History
Gusap Airport was built by US Army engineers of the 871st, 872nd and 875th Airborne Aviation Engineer Battalions during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and was developed into major base consisting of ten airstrips and numerous facilities for fighters and light bombers of the Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
. Later during the war, the airfield was also a base for Royal Australian Air Force aircraft. The base was built around eight grass runways, with 180 revetments in the complex. The airstrip at Gusap "paid for itself many times over in the quantity of Japanese aircraft, equipment and personnel destroyed by Allied attack missions projected from it."
Allied units assigned to Gusap Airfield
- Headquarters, 85th Fighter Wing (25 February-24 July 1944)
- Headquarters, 310th Bombardment Wing310th Air DivisionThe 310th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Continental Air Command, assigned to Twelfth Air Force, being stationed at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma...
(1 February-6 May 1944)
- 312th Bombardment Group312th Aeronautical Systems WingThe 312th Aeronautical Systems Group is a component of the United States Air Force 312th Aeronautical Systems Wing. It is stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and is assigned to Air Force Material Command ....
(1 January-June 1944)
- Headquarters, 386th386th Tactical Fighter SquadronThe 386th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 312th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Cannon Air Force Base. New Mexico...
, 387th387th Tactical Fighter SquadronThe 387th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 312th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Cannon Air Force Base. New Mexico...
, 388th, 389th389th Bombardment SquadronThe 389th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 312th Bombardment Group, based at Ellington Field. Texas. It was inactivated on June 27, 1949.-History:...
Bomb Squadrons, A-20 Havoc- 35th Fighter Group35th Fighter WingThe 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The 35 FW is part of Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force.-Mission:...
(7 February-22 July 1944)
- 35th Fighter Group
- Headquarters, 39th39th Flying Training SquadronThe 39th Flying Training Squadron is currently part of the 340th Flying Training Group and is the reserve associate to the 12th Flying Training Wing based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.-Mission:...
, 41st41st Flying Training SquadronThe 41st Flying Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates T-6 Texan II aircraft conducting flight training.-Mission:...
Fighter Squadrons, P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
- 49th Fighter Group49th Fighter WingThe 49th Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The 49 WG is part of the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force....
(20 November 1943 – 19 April 1944)
- 49th Fighter Group
- Headquarters, 7th7th Fighter SquadronThe 7th Fighter Squadron is part of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.-Mission:The 7th Fighter Squadron as a part of the 49th Operations Group supports national security objectives, as directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by utilizing the F-22A Raptor aircraft.The 7 FS...
, 8th8th Fighter SquadronThe 8th Fighter Squadron was part of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operated the F-22A Raptor, having previously operated the F-117 Nighthawk aircraft from 1992 until the squadron's inactivation on May 16, 2008...
, 9th9th Fighter SquadronThe 9th Fighter Squadron was part of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operated the F-117 Nighthawk aircraft conducting air superiority missions...
Fighter Squadrons, P-40 Warhawk (1943), P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
(1944)
See also
- USAAF in the Southwest PacificUnited States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific TheatreDuring World War II, the United States Army Air Forces engaged in combat against the air, ground and naval forces of the Empire of Japan in the South West Pacific Theatre....