Nampong Air Force Base
Encyclopedia
Nampong Air Force Base is a Myanmar Air Force base in Myitkyina
, Myanmar
(Burma).
Formerly known as Myikyina West, it is located several miles to the west of Myitkyina. It is in current military use and home to a fighter squadron and an attack squadron.
as Namponmao Airfield, the airfield was used primarily as a transport facility during the Burma Campaign 1944-1945
by the Tenth Air Force
4th Combat Cargo Group
beginning in June 1945 flying C-46 Commando
s as a combat resupply airfield, air-dropping pallets of supplies and ammunition to the advancing Allied forces on the ground.
With the defeat of the Japanese froces in Burma, the group began cargo and passenger flights over "the Hump
" (Himalayan Mountains) to and from China, assisting the movement of the 3d Combat Cargo Group to Shanghai
.
The Americans left in November 1945 at the end of the war.
Myitkyina
Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar , located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and in fact "Myitkyina" lies on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, just below from Myit-son of its two headstreams...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
(Burma).
Formerly known as Myikyina West, it is located several miles to the west of Myitkyina. It is in current military use and home to a fighter squadron and an attack squadron.
History
Built by the Allies 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...
as Namponmao Airfield, the airfield was used primarily as a transport facility during the Burma Campaign 1944-1945
Burma Campaign 1944-1945
The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, who were assisted to some degree by Thailand, the Burmese Independence Army and the Indian National Army...
by the Tenth Air Force
Tenth Air Force
The Tenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve Command . It is headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas....
4th Combat Cargo Group
4th Combat Cargo Group
The 4th Combat Cargo Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization that served in Tenth Air Force as part of the China Burma India Theater of World War II.-Overview:...
beginning in June 1945 flying C-46 Commando
C-46 Commando
The Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando was a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C...
s as a combat resupply airfield, air-dropping pallets of supplies and ammunition to the advancing Allied forces on the ground.
With the defeat of the Japanese froces in Burma, the group began cargo and passenger flights over "the Hump
The Hump
The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the United States Army Air Forces based in...
" (Himalayan Mountains) to and from China, assisting the movement of the 3d Combat Cargo Group to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
.
The Americans left in November 1945 at the end of the war.