Sunday History Photo / NT

Works on Manbullo airfield were initially undertaken by the 43rd Engineer Regiment (US Army) in April 1942. The Allied Works Council completed the works and the airfield was operational by 19 May 1942. The runway was 6,499 ft × 98 ft.




On 22 March 1942, nine Mitsubishi G4M1 "Betty" bombers of the Japanese Navy's Tokao Kokutai, 23rd Koku Sentai appeared over Katherine at 12.20pm and circled the area. They then disappeared. A local eyewitness Dorothy Hall said they came back about a quarter of an hour later and dropped their bombs. Local farmer Bert Nixon saw the nine bombers in formation coming in from the north east. Most of the bombs dropped on the Katherine airfield and nearby areas but two bombs landed near Manbullo airfield
34 Squadron RAAF move from Hughes airfield (32 Mile) to Manbullo airfield on 27 August 1942. On 13 December 1942, the aircraft of 34 Squadron RAAF were allocated to 6 Communications Flight RAAF. 34 Squadron RAAF reformed at Parafield in South Australia on 3 January 1943.





The B-24 Liberators from the 529th and 530th Bombardment Squadrons moved to Manbulloo shortly after arriving from the United States in April 1943, with Headquarters of their parent unit, the 380th Bomb Group being at Fenton Airfield. With the Northern Territory being subjected to the occasional Japanese air raid at the time, it was decided to disperse the operational squadrons over several airfields. From Manbulloo Airfield the squadron attacked Japanese airfields, ground installations, shipping, and industries in the Netherlands East Indies and the Bismarck Archipelago. Other missions included disruption of enemy sea channels; dropping photoflash bombs and propaganda pamphlets. Both squadrons were reassigned to Long Airfield in late 1943.






Photo above: B-24 Liberator of 24 Squadron RAAF being loaded with 300lbs bombs in about September 1944 at Manbullo Airfield. LAC L.J. Evans and LAC C.J. Allen are carrying fins to be attached to the bombs.




The airfield was closed in 1944 and apparently abandoned. Today from the air no wartime buildings, taxiways or hardstands are evident, only the remains of the main NW-SE runway exist which is being used as an access road to an irrigated mango plantation, which was planted in 1972, the first commercial mango plantation in NT, it is now owned by Manbulloo Limited who export mangoes around the world. The remains of what appears to be a second runway (NNW-SSE) is faintly visible in aerial photography, along with some roads possibly a part of the airfield are also faintly visible. No evidence of a containment area is visible.
An access road to the airfield is joined to the Victoria Highway, however, the airfield is on private property as part of the million hectare cattle property Manbulloo Station.
Units based at Manbulloo Airfield
529th Bombardment Squadron (380th Bombardment Group), (28 April-7 November 1943)
531st Bombardment Squadron (380th Bombardment Group), (28 April-5 December 1943)
No. 24 Squadron RAAF
No. 34 Squadron RAAF

Google Earth Co-Ords 14°36'1.36"S 132°11'27.14"E
I have included details of 2 of the many B-24's operated by the USAAF to give an idea where they came from, and where and when they arrived in Australia and what happened to them

380TH BOMB GROUP AIRCRAFT SERIAL NO.: 42-40979 NOSE ART NAME: “ROBBIE L”
MODEL: B-24D-120-CO MFR: Consolidated-San Diego
OVERSEAS FLIGHT DATE: 07/31/1943 DEPARTURE PLACE: Fairfield, CA
OVERSEAS ARRIVAL DATE: 08/09/1943 DESTINATION: Amberly Field, Brisbane, AUS
MOD COMPLETED OVERSEAS: Nose turret OVERSEAS MOD PLACE: Townsville
STATION: Manbulloo
FIRST MISSION: 08/29/1943 WHERE (1ST MISSION): Babo, New Guinea
NO. OF MISSIONS: 57 TERMINATION DATE: 08/08/1944 WHY TERMINATED: Salvaged
WHERE TERMINATED: Townsville, Australia

In the top photo below, the whited out area was done by the WW2 censor to block out the Radar Antenna system ,





380TH BOMB GROUP AIRCRAFT SERIAL NO.: 42-40485 NOSE ART NAME: “FYRTLE MYRTLE”
MODEL: B-24D-65-CO MFR: Consolidated-San Diego
OVERSEAS FLIGHT DATE: 04/26/1943 DEPARTURE PLACE: Hamilton Field, CA
OVERSEAS ARRIVAL DATE: 05/13/1943 DESTINATION: Amberly Field, Brisbane, AUS
MOD COMPLETED OVERSEAS: Nose turret OVERSEAS MOD PLACE: Townsville
STATION: Manbulloo
FIRST MISSION: 07/18/1943 WHERE (1ST MISSION): Macassar, Celebes
NO. OF MISSIONS: 17 AU TERMINATION DATE: 10/26/1943
WHY TERMINATED: Shot Down by Fighters
WHERE TERMINATED: Celebes




Took off from Manbulloo Airfield on a bombing mission against Pomelaa on the southern tip of the Celebes. Intercepted by enemy fighters from head on and tracers observed impacting the bomber. Other bombers in the formation observed this B-24 turning to the left and eight parachutes were observed. The bomber continued to fly until the wings collapsed upward and it exploded and crashed into the sea.
Fates of the Crew
Seven of the crew were taken prisoner near Kabena Island. All were liberated at the end of the war and returned to the United States. Lovett and Mc Ferren were liberated from the Tokyo POW Camp (Shinjuku) at the end of the war. Holman was liberated from Tokyo POW Camp Branch #2 (Kawasaki).




Note: I have been informed by Linda Phillips of Byron, Minnesota that the huge Willow Run B-24 plant has been saved from demolition by the determination of an 88 year old Rosie The Riveter woman that worked on the B-24's during the war, I guess those Rosie the Riveters never give up.

Link to Willow Run


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