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===Postwar===
===Postwar===
After the [[Pacific War]] the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to its owners, however as the coral base was compacted to make the runway the land now provides poor ground for growing coconuts.<ref name="TAH18">{{cite book |last1=Melei Telavi |first1= Hugh Laracy (ed.) |authorlink1= |title= Tuvalu: A History |url= |format= |accessdate= |year= 1983 |publisher= Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu |location= |language= |isbn=|oclc= |doi= |id= |page=143 |pages=|chapter=Chapter 18 - War|chapterurl= |quote= |ref= |bibcode= }}</ref>
The debris from a crashed Liberator B-24 remained on the island.<ref name="BB75">{{cite web|first= Bill |last= Bartsch |title = War Relics in Tuvalu and Kiribati | date =|url=http://www.nanumea.net/PDF%20files%20used%20in%20NEA%20website/Bartsch%20Article%201%20downsized%20using%20xara.pdf |publisher=South Pacific Bulletin (1975) |accessdate=7 April 2014}}</ref> After the [[Pacific War]] the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to its owners, however as the coral base was compacted to make the runway the land now provides poor ground for growing coconuts.<ref name="TAH18">{{cite book |last1=Melei Telavi |first1= Hugh Laracy (ed.) |authorlink1= |title= Tuvalu: A History |url= |format= |accessdate= |year= 1983 |publisher= Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu |location= |language= |isbn=|oclc= |doi= |id= |page=143 |pages=|chapter=Chapter 18 - War|chapterurl= |quote= |ref= |bibcode= }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 06:42, 7 April 2014

Nukufetau Airfield
Part of Seventh Air Force
Nukufetau, Gilbert and Ellice Islands
Coordinates08°03′54″S 178°22′38″E / 8.06500°S 178.37722°E / -8.06500; 178.37722 (Approximate)
TypeMilitary airfield
Site information
Controlled byUnited States Army Air Forces
United States Marine Corps
Site history
Built1943
In use1943

Nukufetau Airfield is a former World War II airfield on the south-eastern side of Nukufetau on Motulalo Island.

History

Built by United States Navy Seabees on Motulalo island as an alternative strip to Nanumea and Funafuti airfields and allow for further dispersal of aircraft in the Ellice Islands (now Tuvalu). Two intersecting runways formed an "X" shape.

United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) using the base included:

Operational before November 1943 to aid in the Battle of Tarawa.

Postwar

The debris from a crashed Liberator B-24 remained on the island.[2] After the Pacific War the airfield was dismantled and the land returned to its owners, however as the coral base was compacted to make the runway the land now provides poor ground for growing coconuts.[3]

See also

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
  • Pacific Wrecks index: Nukufetau Airfield

References

  1. ^ a b Maurer, Maxwell AFB (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)
  2. ^ Bartsch, Bill. "War Relics in Tuvalu and Kiribati" (PDF). South Pacific Bulletin (1975). Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  3. ^ Melei Telavi, Hugh Laracy (ed.) (1983). "Chapter 18 - War". Tuvalu: A History. Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu. p. 143. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)