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Piardoba Airfield.png) .png) | |
|---|---|
| Part of Twentieth Air Force Tenth Air Force | |
| BANKURA DIST., WEST BENGAL, India | |
 Bell-Atlanta B-29-10-BA Superfortress at Piardoba Airfield | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Condition | Abandoned |
| Location | |
  Piardoba Airfield  Piardoba Airfield | |
| Coordinates | 22°59′21.86″N087°17′59.00″E / 22.9894056°N 87.2997222°E /22.9894056; 87.2997222 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942–1945 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Piardoba Airfield is an abandoned airfield inIndia, located 6.6 miles (10.7 km) S ofBishnupur, West Bengal,Bankura District in the state ofWest Bengal,India.[1][2]
DuringWorld War II, the airfield hosted theUnited States Army Air Force462d Bombardment Group prior to its deployment to theMariana Islands.
Piardoba was originally designed forConsolidated B-24 Liberator use. In 1943 it was designated as aBoeing B-29 Superfortress base for the planned deployment of theUnited States Army Air ForcesXX Bomber Command to India. Advance Army Air Forces echelons arrived in India in December 1943 to organize the upgrading of the airfield and thousands of Indians labored to upgrade the facility for Superfortress operations. It was one of four B-29 bases established by the Americans in India.
Piardoba was designated to be the home of the462d Bombardment Group, with initially four B-29 Squadrons768th,769th,770th and771st. Support elements of the group included the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Bomb Maintenance Squadrons; the 13th Photo Lab, and the 86th Air Service Group.
The 462d arrived at the base on 7 April 1944 after completing B-29 transition training atWalker AAF,Kansas. The deployment to India took almost three weeks, consisting of traveling to Morrison Field,Florida, then south through theCaribbean toNatal, Brazil. From Brazil the South Atlantic was crossed arriving inWest Africa and re-assembling atMarrakesh, Morocco. The group then flew north and east from Morocco throughAlgeria andEgypt, before arriving at Karachi. By the time the group arrived at Piardoba, the month-long trip had taken its toll on the aircraft and personnel.
The 462dth was part of theOperation Matterhorn project of XX Bomber Command, the bombing of theJapanese Home Islands. In order to reach Japan, the B-29s of the group needed to stage operations fromKuinglai (Linqiong) Airfield (A-4), a forward base just to the southwest ofChendu in south-centralChina.[3]
However, in order to stage missions and operate from Kuinglai, the group need to transport supplies of fuel, bombs, and spares needed 1,200 miles to the airfield. Six round trips were necessary to deliver enough fuel for one airplane to mount a combat mission from China - an impractical logistics concept for an aerial campaign.
Almost immediately upon arrival in India, engine fires caused the grounding of all of the groups B-29s. The cause was that the B-29's R-3350 engine had not been designed to operate at ground temperatures higher than 115 degrees F, which were typically exceeded in India. Modifications had also to be made to the aircraft and after these modifications, B-29 flights to India were resumed.
The first combat mission by the group took place on 5 June 1944, when squadrons of the 462d took off from India to attack the Makasan railroad yards atBangkok,Thailand. This involved a 2261-mile round trip, the longest bombing mission yet attempted during the war.
On 15 June the group participated in the first American Air Force attack on theJapanese Home Islands since theDoolittle raid in 1942, araid on Yawata. Operating from bases in India, and at times staging through fields in India and China, the group struck transportation centers, naval installations, iron works, aircraft plants, and other targets inJapan,Thailand,Burma,China,Formosa, andIndonesia. From a staging base inCeylon, the 462d mined the Moesi River onSumatra in August 1944 duringOperation Boomerang. Received aDistinguished Unit Citation for a daylight attack on iron and steel works atYawata, Japan, in August 1944.
The 462d evacuated staging fields in China in January 1945 due to the Japanese offensive in South China which threatened the forward staging bases, but continued operations from India, bombing targets inThailand and mining waters aroundSingapore. However, by late 1944 it was becoming apparent that B-29 operations against Japan staged out of the bases in Chengtu were far too expensive in men and materials and would have to be stopped. In December 1944, the Joint Chiefs of Staff made the decision that Operation Matterhorn would be phased out, and the B-29s would be moved to newly captured bases in the Marianas in the central Pacific.[citation needed]
On 26 February 1945, the 462d Bombardment Group flew south toCeylon, then southeast across theIndian Ocean toPerth inWestern Australia. Flying north throughNew Guinea, it reached its new home atWest Field,Tinian, in theMariana Islands on 4 April where it and its parent58th Bombardment Wing came under the command of the newXXI Bomber Command.[citation needed]
With the departure of the B-29s to the Marianas, Piardoba Airfield was turned over to theTenth Air Force. The33d Fighter Group moved to the airfield on 5 May 1945 after being withdrawn from Combat. The group left its P-38s and P-47s at the airfield for disposal, with the personnel returning to the United States. The unit was inactivated in mid-November.[citation needed]
Also, Piardoba saw the arrival of Headquarters, Tenth Air Force fromMyitkyina,Burma on 15 May. The headquarters echelon remained at the base until moving toWujiaba Airport nearKunming, China effective 1 August.[4]
Piardoba Airfield officially closed on 26 September 1945, being turned over to the British colonial government. The postwar history of the airfield is unclear, however today the large, sprawling wartime airfield is abandoned and in disrepair, with abandoned hardstands and taxiways visible on aerial images. Little no wartime structures still exist, although it appears that some small villages have taken over the former billeting areas.[5]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Media related toPiardoba Airfield at Wikimedia Commons| Airfields |
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