Dudhkundi Airfield: A forgotten chapter of history

The Google map was showing this somewhere on our left, a blotch on a green patch on the phone screen. We left Kharagpur some time back and were driving straight towards Lodhashuli on the NH-6 to our final destination, Jhargram. I was concentrating on the road as there were several bad sections due to the ongoing widening work. The traffic was thrown out of gear, and I was constantly dodging the trucks that kept hurtling at me from the opposite direction. Amitabha sat beside me, hunched over the phone, as he was tinkering with the Google map, trying to locate the forgotten airfield hidden somewhere in the vast expanse of a landscape entwined with thick vegetation and red barren land.

Yes, it was Dudhkundi airfield we were looking for, situated somewhere 15 km southeast of Jhargram town. This was one of the many army airfields that were set up in Bengal during World War II. Dudhkundi airfield was first commissioned in 1943, and July 1944 was the time when the United States Air Force 444 Bombardment Group was stationed here. Dudhkundi played an important role in the “Operation Matterhorn” of the US Air Force, which targeted strategic bombing of the Japanese army stationed at various bases in China and Southeast Asia. In order to reach Japanese-occupied soil, the operations were staged from Kwanghan airfield, a forward base close to the southwest of Chendu in south-central China.

A question arises as to what the 444 Bombardment group was doing at Dudhkundi when battle was being fought thousands of miles away. The answer lies in the fact that during 1944, the Japanese dominance over the sea around the Chinese coast made it impossible for the Allied forces to ensure a steady seaborne supply line to Kwanghan base, an important strategic point to raise an airborne offensive over the Japanese forces. The US Air Force decided to provide airborne supply to Kwanghan from Eastern India, and hence Dudhkundi was selected as base. Under Operation Matterhorn, the US Air Force deployed the mighty B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber aircraft for this operation. Made by Boeing Corporation, these four-engine propeller aircraft were one of the most successful heavy-duty bombers used by the US Air Force in World War II and the Korean War. These aircrafts were able to carry heavy loads and could fly long distances non-stop. In fact, a B-29 Superfortress was used to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 1943, when Dudhkundi airfield was built, the army envisaged the landing of light fighter aircraft, but certainly not huge bomber aircraft like B-29 Superfortress. When under project Matterhorn, the 444 Bombardment squadrons decided to move in, facilities were upgraded as a top priority, with men working around the clock. Dudhkundi was ready to welcome the B-29 Superfortress by July 1944. In fact, it was one of four B-29 bases established by the Americans in India.

The B-29s were carrying the supply from India as well as launching attacks from Kwanghan base. To launch one combat flight, the aircraft needed to make six round-trips with supplies. This operation was logistically complicated, expensive, and time-consuming. The aircrafts needed to fly almost 1200 miles from India, carrying heavy loads of fuel, bombs, spares, and other supplies, crossing over the ‘HUMP', as the Eastern Himalayas were popularly referred to by the American pilots. For today’s modern jets, this would have been a cakewalk, but in those times, for a propeller-driven heavy aircraft, the climb to the required altitude with full load enabling it to fly over the Himalayas was considered dangerous and required a high degree of dexterity from the pilots. To carry the supply, the B-29s were stripped of almost all combat equipment, and in addition, they required seven tons of fuel to complete the six-hour flight.

Around late 1944 it was becoming apparent that the B-29 operations based out of Chendu were not making much sense in terms of cost and logistics. Moreover, the Japanese offensive in South China was mounting at a steady pace, making it difficult for the US Air Force to hold onto the forward bases. B-29s flying from India continued to bomb around Japanese strongholds in Thailand and Singapore. In December 1944, decision was made to pull out the squadron and shift them to the new base at Marianas in the Central Pacific.

After the 444th moved out with their B-29s, the airfield was handed over to Tenth Air Force, and the airfield remained as the maintenance and disposition center for surplus aircrafts of the allied forces.

Post this, the airfield has seen 80th Fighter Group moving in on May 24th, 1945, from their previous base in Myanmar. Various fighter aircraft, including P-38 Lightnings, A-36 Apaches, and P-40 Warhawks, flew from here.

The 80th Fighter group returned to the US in October 1945, giving way to the 7th Bombardment group, moving in with their B-24 Liberator planes. Later, this unit also made its exit from here, and the airfield was used to fly the US personnel back home. Finally, in January 1946, after the last of the Americans left, the airfield was deactivated and handed over to the British colonial government.

Today, there is nothing left of this short but illustrious history of the airfield. The map showed a left turn, and I swung my car left from the highway, taking a bumpy trail past a smoke-spewing stone chips factory. I kept following the trail, leaving a wake of deep red dust. The trail led to a vast expanse of land, covered by low shrubs and often dotted by few trees. The landscape stretched to horizons, and everything around us suddenly felt quiet. No longer could I hear the usual noises from the highway. Not a soul was in sight. As I shut the engine off, complete silence fell. Ahead of me I could see a long & broad concrete pathway, the surface scarred and rough, an obvious sign of bearing the brunt of time. Probably this was the runway of the airfield where the mighty B-29s took off and landed, engines howling. That day, as I stood, It was difficult to imagine this place as a thriving airfield. The desolate and almost eerie look of the place makes you believe that you are part of some horror movie set. Even in broad daylight, we felt uneasy. Tall brick structures broke through the forest at random places, probably remains of what must have been offices and go-downs of the airfield. However, from the remains, it was difficult to gauge what these structures originally looked like and what purpose they served. We walked around, and I felt an aerial view would have revealed more of what is left of the airfield, its runway, and taxiways. It was so vast and open that at one point I lost all sense of direction. I followed a narrow trail inside the forest, took a few turns, and then I realized I was lost. The forest around me looked all the same, and I couldn’t identify the direction I came from or where I had parked the car. I found my way back, but not without those few moments of panic.

A place with interesting history, though practically there is nothing much left to see today except for enjoying few minutes of complete solitude. Photographs, though I had taken some, wouldn’t reveal much. Maybe I need to come back with a drone to take some aerial shots, which will help in understanding the layout of this airfield.