Taroa Airfield
Taroa Airfield was a major air base approximately three miles long and one mile wide on Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The runway, which spanned the length of the island, is still in use today and known as Maloelap Airport (Airport Code: MAV).[1]
World War II
During World War II, Taroa Airfield was the easternmost Japanese air base. It was a favorite target for Allied bombers from Makin Airfield, Tarawa, and Abemama and was heavily bombed in 1944.[1][2][3] It became part of the vast Naval Base Marshall Islands in 1944.
In an article about Charles Lindbergh's involvement in the Pacific Theater, G. D. Provenza describes Taroa thus:
The target that day was an enemy personnel area on Taroa; this tiny island had already been bombed flat, but hundreds of surviving Japanese troops were reportedly still dug-in there. Over the island at 8,000 feet, Lindbergh pushed forward into a steep 60-degree dive. The enemy gamely fought back, sending up accurate small-arms fire.[4]
A combination of aerial attacks, bombardment from naval ships, and supply line disruption caused many deaths; only 34% of those originally on the island survived.[1] The Japanese abandoned the island on February 5, 1944.[1]
A US Navy reconnaissance photo of this island in 1944 shows a twin-engine twin tail plane that author Randall Brink thinks belonged to missing aviator Amelia Earhart.[5]
References
- Pacific Wrecks (September 24, 2018). "Taroa Airfield (Maloelap Airport), Maloelap Atoll, Marshall Islands". pacificwrecks.com. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- Rottman, Gordon. (2004). The Marshall Islands 1944 : Operation Flintlock, the Capture of Kwajalein and Eniwetok. Gerrard, Howard. Oxford: Osprey Pub. ISBN 9781846036675. OCLC 476231961.
- "10,000-ton Jap ship sunk". The Times of India. December 4, 1943.
- Provenza, G. D. "Lindbergh's War: The Famed Flier Joined Marine Pilots in Combat Against the Japanese." Leatherneck (Pre-1998) 75, no. 5 (05, 1992): 16-21.
- Brink, Randall (1993). Lost star : the search for Amelia Earhart. W. W. Norton. p. 160. ISBN 0393026833. OCLC 436834462.
Further reading
- Adams, W.H., Ross, R.E., Krause, E.L., & Spennemann, D. (1997). Marshall Islands Archaeology – The Japanese Airbase on Taroa Island, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 1937-45: An Evaluation of the World War II Remains. San Francisco, California: Micronesian Endowment for Historic Preservation, Republic of the Marshall Islands, U.S. National Park Service.