Middleburg Airfield (also known as Klenso Airfield or Toem Airfield) is a World War II airfield located on Middleburg Island, to the north of Sansapor in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state.
The airfield was built by the Americans, and began as a 5,400 foot-long fighter airstrip, becoming operational on 17 August 1944. A second runway, completed on 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 the 67th Fighter Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group flying P-38 Lightnings (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 Mitchells based on Biak also used Middleburg as a staging base to extend the range of their bombing operations into northern Celebes.
middleburg, airfield, also, known, klenso, airfield, toem, airfield, world, airfield, located, middleburg, island, north, sansapor, southwest, papua, indonesia, airfield, abandoned, after, today, almost, totally, returned, natural, state, part, fifth, forceloc. Middleburg Airfield also known as Klenso Airfield or Toem Airfield is a World War II airfield located on Middleburg Island to the north of Sansapor in Southwest Papua Indonesia The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state Middleburg AirfieldPart of Fifth Air ForceLocated on Middleburg Island in Southwest Papua Province IndonesiaMiddleburg AirfieldLocation in Bird s Head PeninsulaShow map of Bird s Head PeninsulaMiddleburg AirfieldLocation in Southwest PapuaShow map of West Papua province Coordinates00 22 13 53 S 132 11 42 57 E 0 3704250 S 132 1951583 E 0 3704250 132 1951583TypeMilitary airfieldSite informationControlled byUnited States Army Air ForcesSite historyBuilt1944In use1944 1945 Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory EditThe airfield was built by the Americans and began as a 5 400 foot long fighter airstrip becoming operational on 17 August 1944 A second runway completed on 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 the 67th Fighter Squadron of the 347th Fighter Group flying P 38 Lightnings 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 Mitchells based on Biak also used Middleburg as a staging base to extend the range of their bombing operations into northern Celebes See also Edit World War II portalUSAAF in the Southwest PacificReferences Edit This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Maurer 1983 Air Force Combat Units Of World War II Maxwell AFB Alabama Office of Air Force History ISBN 0 89201 092 4 External links EditMiddleburg Airfield at Pacificwrecks com This article about an Indonesian airport is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Middleburg Airfield amp oldid 1125299627, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
