Fenton Airfield - History

History

The airfield was built by C Company and HQ Detachment of the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion between 27 April 1942 and 16 July 1942. The airfield was named after Flight Lieutenant Clyde Fenton. The single runway was 6,000 ft × 100 ft (1,829 m × 30 m).

It was mainly utilised by Liberator bombers mounting long range raids against Japanese forces in the Netherlands East Indies North Western Area of Operations and the South West Pacific Area.

Further development of the airfield was undertaken by No. 1 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF, No 14 Airfield Construction Squadron RAAF and New South Wales Department of Main Roads under the Allied Works Council. The runway was enlarged to approximately 7,218 ft × 164 ft (2,200 m × 50 m) and about sixty aircraft dispersal bays, some with earthen revetments.

During its operational use Fenton Airfield was a major airfield, being headquarters for many Royal Australian Air Force Squadrons, and United States Army and Air Force units. Reconnaissance flights were flown over Timor Island, New Guinea and Celebres Islands, and attacks and armed reconnaissance missions were carried out against Japanese airfields, ground installations and shipping. On 29 February 1944 the USAAF 380th Bombardment Group flew a 16-hour mission from Fenton to Borneo, flying over 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi).

With the end of the war in late 1945, the airfield was abandoned. Over the years, it has reverted in large part to the natural terrain from which it was built. All of the base infrastructure is gone, with concrete and various foundations, piles of rubble and the occasional aircraft part remaining. In aerial photographs, the remains of some roads that probably led to dispersed parts of the base away from the operations area such as the bomb dump and the administrative containment area are faintly visible, but no structures exist.