Middleburg Airfield is a World War II

World 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...

 airfield located on Middleburg Island, to the north of Sansapor in West Irian Jaya Province, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state.

On the linked satellite image the airfield is still clearly visible over 60 years after being abandoned.

History

The airfield was built by the Americans began as a 5,400 foot-long fighter airstrip, becoming operational on 17 August 1944. A second runway, completed 3 September, began at 6,000 feet but was soon lengthened to 7,500. It was used by a number of units, including the 419th Night Fighter Squadron flying P-61 Black Widows (21 August to 6 March 1945) and by the 67th Fighter Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group flying P-38 Lightning

P-38 Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...

s (15 August to 12 February 1945).

The capture of this island had a significant impact on the allied war effort in the Southwest Pacific, as the long-range P-38 Lightnings were now in range of several important Japanese installations blocking the route to the Philippines. B-25 Mitchell

B-25 Mitchell

The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

s based on Biak

Biak

Biak features a tropical rainforest climate with nearly identical temperatures throughout the course of the year. The average annual temperature in the city is 27 degrees celsius, which is also generally the average temperature of each day in Biak...

 also used Middleburg as a staging base to extend the range of their bombing operations into northern Celebes

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

.

See also

• USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
  United States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific Theatre
  During 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....
  
  

Links

• Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• Pacific Wrecks website