Motobu Airfield

Motobu Airfield
Motobu, Okinawa, Japan
Aerial view of Motobu airfield, Okinawa
Coordinates	26°41′009.15″N 127°53′23.90″E
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	April 1945
In use	1945

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

Location of Motobu Airfield

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.

See also

• Naval Base Okinawa

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.