Chabua

  1939 to present

  India

CITY: Chabua, Assam

IATA/ICAO CODES: --- / VECA

COORDINATES: 27°28'N / 95°07'E

OTHER NAMES: Chabua (1939-1962), Chabua Air Force Station (1962-present)

Chabua airfield was built in 1939 on the grounds of Hazelbank Tea Plantation. In April 1942, the USAAF started building a 6,000-foot hard-surface runway there, which opened in September; this allowed continued operations during the monsoon season. Chabua was attacked by Japanese aircraft on 12 February 1943.

During the war, Chabua served as a major supply point for the ferrying of supplies to Chinese forces in and around Kunming, Yunnan, China. It was designated from the onset as the headquarters for the India-China Ferry Command, later India-China Wing. The 1st Ferrying (later Transport) Group operated three squadrons of C-47 Skytrain and C-46 Commando from Chabua. The airfield was also an important layover stop of the ATC Karachi to Kunming air transport route. Flights operated west to Agra, New Delhi, Gaya,  and east to Kunming.

In addition to the ATC transport units, the 10^th Air Force operated B-24 Liberators and their supporting fighters from the airfield, flying long range bombardment missions into Burma, south China, Thailand as well as French Indochina. The B-24s were also occasionally used to ferry aircraft fuel into China.

Chabua airfield was inactivated on 25 December 1945 and subsequently abandoned. In 1962, in response to the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the subsequent threat it posed, the Indian Air Force reactivated Chabua and uses it to this day as an airbase.

1325^th AAF Base Unit (Assam Wing HQ) (July 1944 to July 1946)

1333^rd AAF Base Unit (Chabua)

Air Transport Command India-China Wing Stations 2 & 6 (December 1943 to August 1944)

Air Transport Command India-China Division, Assam Wing (July 1944 to July 1946)

1^st Transport Group (Summer 1942 to December 1943)

22^nd Transport Group (February 1943 to April 1943)

• Curtiss C-46A-5-CK Commando: 43-47003
• Curtiss C-46A-20-CU Commando: 41-24682
• Curtiss C-46A-25-CU Commando: 41-24699, 41-24701, 41-24705, 41-24717, 41-24732
• Curtiss C-46A-30 CU Commando: 41-24741, 41-24744, 41-24774, 41-24775, 42-3570
• Curtiss C-46A-35-CU Commando: 42-3593, 42-3595, 42-3598, 42-3601, 42-3603, 42-3604, 42-3605, 42-3632
• Curtiss C-46A-40-CU Commando: 42-61020, 42-107342
• Curtiss C-46A-41-CU Commando: 42-60978, 42-60987, 42-60993, 42-61016, 42-61018, 42-107305
• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: 42-96547, 42-96608, 42-96634, 42-96636, 42-96721
• Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando: 42-96822, 42-101152
• Curtiss C-46A-55-CU Commando: 43-47052
• Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando: 43-47067, 43-47074, 43-47087, 43-47114, 43-47115, 43-47120, 43-47121, 43-47127, 43-47135, 43-47139, 43-47146, 43-47160, 43-47164
• Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando: 43-47221, 43-47235, 43-47349