RAF Kalaikunda

  WWII to present

  India

CITY: Kharagpur, West Bengal

IATA/ICAO CODES: --- / VEDX

COORDINATES: 22°20'N / 87°13'E

OTHER NAMES: Kalaikunda Air Force Station

RAF Kalaikunda was built by the British for the Royal Indian Air Force during World War II. It was used to conduct raids against advancing Japanese in Burma and also for operations to transport supplies to parts of China. From 1943, Kalaikunda was designated as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress base for the planned deployment of the USAAF XX Bomber Command to India. Advance echelons arrived in December 1943 to organize the upgrading of the airfield and thousands of Indians labored to upgrade the facility for Superfortress operations. Kalaikunda was one of four B-29 bases established by the Americans in India.

When the XX Bomber Command arrived at Kalaikunda in late March 1944, the conditions at the base were poor, and the runways were still in the process of being lengthened when the first B-29s arrived. Along with Command Headquarters, Kalaikunda was also the headquarters of 58^th Bombardment Wing, which arrived in late April. XX Bomber Command's 3 mobile air transport squadrons were also deployed at Kalaikunda, respectively in May, June and July 1944, and their Commandos operated from there for several months.

By 1945, XX Bomber Command's mission was judged impractical due to the stretched supply lines required to operate the Superfortress from China. The Command left Kalaikunda and was replaced there by 10^th Air Force's 2^nd Air Commando Group, which dropped supplies to Allied troops fighting the Japanese in the Chindwin Valley in Burma, moved Chinese troops from Burma to China, transported men, food, ammunition, and construction equipment to Burma, and dropped Gurka paratroops during the assault on Rangoon.

Today, Kalaikunda Air Force Station is a major Indian Air Force fighter base.

1355^th AAF Base Unit (Kalaikunda)

20th Air Force, XX Bomber Command (March 1944 to June 1945)

20^th Air Force, XX Bomber Command, 1^st Air Transport Squadron (Mobile) (May 1944 to June 1945)

20^th Air Force, XX Bomber Command, 2^nd Air Transport Squadron (Mobile) (June 1944 to October 1944)

20^th Air Force, XX Bomber Command, 3^rd Air Transport Squadron (Mobile) (July 1944 to November 1944)