Motobu Airfield

26°41′009.15″N 127°53′23.90″E / 26.6858750°N 127.8899722°E / 26.6858750; 127.8899722TypeMilitary airfieldSite informationControlled byUnited States Army Air ForcesSite historyBuiltApril 1945In use1945

Motobu Airfield is a World War II airfield on the Motobu Peninsula of Okinawa, near the East China Sea coast. The airfield was deactivated after 1945.

History

The airfield was built in April 1945 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and United States Navy Seabees as a combat airfield to support the Army and Marine Corps ground forces during the Battle of Okinawa. It had a 7,000' x 100' single runway and was used as the support field for Headquarters, Fifth Air Force and its subordinate commands on Okinawa from August through October 1945 until they moved to Honshu, Japan for postwar occupation duty.

Units assigned

Headquarters, Fifth Air Force*, August 4 – September 25, 1945
Headquarters, V Bomber Command*, August–October 1945
Headquarters, V Fighter Command*, August–October 1945
Headquarters, 308th Bombardment Wing*, June 16 – September 22, 1945

.* Assigned to nearby town of Hamasaki and used Motobu Airfield for air operations.

Headquarters, 3d Bombardment Group, A-20 Havoc, August 6 – September 8, 1945

8th Bombardment Squadron, August 7 – October 26, 1945

13th Bombardment Squadron, August 7 – October 10, 1945

89th Bombardment Squadron, August 6 – September 8, 1945

90th Bombardment Squadron, August 6 – September 8, 1945

Headquarters, 380th Bombardment Group, B-24 Liberator, August 9 – November 28, 1945

528th Bombardment Squadron, August 8 – November 28, 1945

529th Bombardment Squadron, August 18 – November 28, 1945

530th Bombardment Squadron, August 10 – November 28, 1945

531st Bombardment Squadron, August 15 – November 28, 1945

Headquarters, 22d Bombardment Group, B-24 Liberator, August 15 – November 23, 1945

2d Bombardment Squadron, August 18 – November 23, 1945

19th Bombardment Squadron, August 14 – November 23, 1945

33d Bombardment Squadron, August 15 – November 23, 1945

408th Bombardment Squadron, August 21 – November 23, 1945

Headquarters, 417th Bombardment Group, A-20 Havoc, August 17 – November 1, 1945

672d Bombardment Squadron, August 17 – November 3, 1945

673d Bombardment Squadron, August 18 – November 4, 1945

674th Bombardment Squadron, August 15 – November 1, 1945

675th Bombardment Squadron, August 17 – November 5, 1945

In addition to the Army units, several Navy aviation squadrons used the airfield. Its postwar use is undetermined. Today, parts of the runway can still be seen on aerial photography.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from 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.

USAAF Fifth Air Force in World War II

Previously: Philippine Department Air Force (1941); Far East Air Force (1941-1942)

Airfields

Pacific	USAAF in Australia USAAF in the Southwest Pacific USAAF in Okinawa

Units

Commands

Wings

Groups

Air Commando	3d Air Commando
Bombardment	3d Bombardment 7th Bombardment 19th Bombardment 22d Bombardment 27th Bombardment 38th Bombardment 43d Bombardment 90th Bombardment 312th Bombardment 345th Bombardment 380th Bombardment 417th Bombardment
Combat Cargo	2d Combat Cargo
Fighter	8th Fighter 24th Pursuit 35th Fighter 49th Fighter 58th Fighter 348th Fighter 475th Fighter
Reconnaissance	6th Reconnaissance 71st Reconnaissance
Troop Carrier	317th Troop Carrier 374th Troop Carrier 375th Troop Carrier 433d Troop Carrier

Squadrons

Bombardment	31st Bombardment
Night Fighter	418th Night Fighter 421st Night Fighter 547th Intelligence
Reconnaissance	2d Observation 8th Photographic Reconnaissance 36th Photographic Reconnaissance
Troop Carrier	21st Troop Carrier 22d Troop Carrier 65th Troop Carrier 66th Troop Carrier