Del Monte Airfield

Del Monte Airfield was first selected in September 1941 as an emergency landing strip on Mindanao, capable of landing four-engine B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers during the May to October wet season. It was built on a natural meadow on the Del Monte Pineapple Corporation plantation along the Sayre Highway, in the municipality of Maluko (now Manolo Fortich) of Bukidnon Province in northern Mindanao. The población of the rural municipality was nearby. The airfield was established as part of the build-up of United States military forces in the Philippines due to the rising tensions with the Empire of Japan. ==History==

November 1941 In mid-November 1941, with the creation of the FEAF, General Douglas MacArthur approved the expansion of Del Monte into a heavy bomber base for the 7th Bombardment Group, projected to arrive in early December. His plans, MacArthur told the Chief of Staff on 29 November, called ultimately for more bomber bases in the Visayas to accommodate three additional groups, but since funds for construction of runways for such bases could not be immediately allocated, he agreed to use the field at Del Monte. On the morning of 4 December, after the only operational FEAF radar site detected Japanese weather reconnaissance flights on several successive nights, MacArthur's headquarters ordered the 19th BG to be moved out of range of direct attack. However Brereton decided to send only half of the 35 B-17s at Clark Field to Del Monte because the latter could accommodate only six squadrons and the 7th BG was expected to arrive soon. Orders were issued on 5 December to move the 16 B-17s of the 14th and 93d Bombardment Squadrons from Clark to Del Monte. Since there were no barracks built at Del Monte yet, and intending to remain only 72 hours, the bombers were filled with tents, cots, blankets and rations. The men also took only what they needed, some toiletries and a few changes of uniform. The aircraft flew down singly on the night of 5–6 December, circling at the end of their 4-hour flight before being permitted to land at dawn (5 December in the United States) at Del Monte No. 1, just completed the day before. Materiel to support the arrival of the 7th BG was not scheduled to leave Luzon until 10 December. for Australia. On April 8, 1942, the air echelons of the 24th Pursuit Group along with the remaining Army Air Corps flying operations in the Philippines were withdrawn from Luzon and transferred to Del Monte with whatever aircraft were left to carry on the fight. In April 1942, a group of 7 B-25s and 3 B-17s from Australia returned to Del Monte for the Royce Mission, to attack the Japanese on three bombing missions. On April 12, B-25s hit the harbor and shipping at Cebu, Cebu Island while B-17s carried out single-bomber strikes against Cebu harbor and Nichols Field on Luzon. On 13 April B-25s hit targets in the Philippines for the second consecutive day. The B-25s took off just after midnight and bombed shipping at Cebu and installations at Davao on Mindanao. Later in the day the B-25s again attacked Davao, bombing the dock area. The advancing Japanese forced their return to Australia. In addition to the raids, they brought out a number of important military and diplomatic personnel who had gathered at Del Monte to await evacuation. The last of the 24th Pursuit Group's aircraft were captured or destroyed by enemy forces on or about May 1, 1942 when the airfield was abandoned by the United States, leaving its facilities to the Japanese invaders. ==Del Monte Airfield today==

memorial in Diklum, Bukidnon in Mindanao, bearing the inscription In alis vincimus (On wings we conquer) The complex was not used by the United States or Philippine Commonwealth armed forces during the Philippines Campaign (1944–45), and the airfields were returned to the Del Monte Pineapple Corporation. MacArthur evacuation memorial at the site of the Del Monte Field, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, Philippines, The present-day airstrip of the Del Monte company, built for their light aircraft, is about two miles south of the wartime airfield. Both #1 (Main) and #2 (Fighter) fields have become rice paddies and cornfields, a dirt road being the only trace of their wartime purpose. As of October 2013, The Del Monte Airfield is closed to general aviation, but ultralight aircraft, paramotor aircraft from paramotor flying school of Kampo Juan eco resort, and radio-controlled aircraft enthusiasts from nearby Cagayan de Oro city use the airfield with the approval of the Del Monte management. The Gen. Douglas MacArthur Landmark was erected by the Rotary Club of Northern Bukidnon in Barangay Dicklum to mark the site of Del Monte Field. ==See also==