Laohwangping Airfield

Laohwangping Airfield (Chinese: 旧州机场[1]) is a former World War II United States Army Air Forces airfield, located approximately 1 mile west of Jiuzhou Zhen (旧州镇), Huangping County, Guizhou Province, then in the Republic of China.

Laohwangping Airfield
Part of Fourteenth Air Force
Jiuzhou Zhen, Huangping County, Guizhou Province, Republic of China
Laohwangping Airfield
Coordinates27°00′00″N 107°45′35″E
TypeMilitary airfield
Site information
Controlled byUnited States Army Air Forces
Site history
Battles/warsChina Defensive Campaign 1942-1945
P-51 Mustang flightline, Laohwangping Airfield, June 1945.

Role in WWII

It was designed to be a refuelling station for aircraft coming from Chihkiang Airfield, Hunan,[1]. Eventually it became the primary home of the 35th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, which flew unarmed P-38 Lightning photo-reconnaissance aircraft from the airfield beginning in February 1945 until the end of the war. It was also the home of the 23d Fighter Group 76th Fighter Squadron, equipped with P-51 Mustangs in February 1945.

Construction

The airfield was slowly built from 1939. Serious construction only began from October 1943 as the Wu Dingchang (吴鼎昌), Governor of Guizhou, came to rally. It is officially opened from early 1945, yet it was partially operational and began in use from late 1943.[1] It has a compressed earth runway with tents and small wooden buildings used for a support facility.

It appears to have been closed and dismantled in September 1945 after the war ended, with the land being returned to agricultural use. The available satellite image of this area of China is very low resolution and it is difficult to determine if any relics of the airfield exist.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. "36幅美国援建黄平旧州抗战机场珍贵照片亮相". 国家旅游地理. 2019-07-22.
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