Dulag Airfield

Dulag Airfield
Part of Fifth Air Force
Dulag Airfield Dulag Airfield (Philippines)
Coordinates
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1943-1945

Dulag Airfield is a World War II airfield located near Dulag in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It was closed after the war.

History

The airfield was built by the Japanese during the Occupation of the Philippines in 1943. Seized by the Americans shortly after the Leyte Landing in November 1944, the runway was improved and widened and the facility was turned into a major base, with a double set of revetments and taxiways to the side of the strip.

Major units assigned were:

• 3d Bombardment Group (16 November-30 December 1944)
• 22d Bombardment Group (15–26 November 1944)
• 345th Bombardment Group (12 November 1944 – 1 January 1945)
• 475th Fighter Group (28 October 1944 – 5 February 1945)
• 2d Combat Cargo Group (May-20 August 1945)
• 317th Troop Carrier Group (17 November 1944 – 17 March 1944)
• 418th Night Fighter Squadron (14–30 November 1944)

It was abandoned after the war and today it is an agricultural area. A road runs along the same position of the main runway.

A memorial is built at the former airfield, with a plaque and an airplane model on a concrete pad. The memorial plaque reads: "World War II Airfield - Brgy. Rawis Dulag, Leyte, Philippines. Constructed by the Japanese Imperial Army supported by free labor from the Dulagnons. Taken over by the Allied liberation forces in 1944, improving and widening the area with steel matting runways. Fighter and bomber planes were stationed here through the war days."

File:Dulag airfield Leyte in 1944.jpg

Aerial photo of Dulag airfield, 1944.

See also

• USAAF in the Southwest Pacific

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

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