Laurinburg-Maxton AAB

  October 1942 to present

  United States of America

CITY: Laurinburg, NC

IATA/ICAO CODES: MXE / KMEB

COORDINATES: 34°48'N / 79°22'W

OTHER NAMES: Laurinburg-Maxton AAB (1942-1945), Laurinburg-Maxton Airport (since 1945)

Right: an aerial view of Laurinburg-Maxton AAB, 26 February 1944
Photo credit: USAF Archives

Plans were made by the War Department and the CAA in December 1941 to establish a training base near Laurinburg, NC. Financing was supplied by the CAA and the Works Progress Administration, and an agreement was reached in May 1942, giving control of the would-be airfield to the military for the duration of the war, and to the general public thereafter. Construction was authorized on 20 April 1942 and work began almost immediately. The base was designed to be large from the onset, able to house 10,000 men with many wooden buildings and 20 miles of paved roads, with construction cost exceeding ten million dollars. Airside, three 6,500-ft runways were built in a triangular shape, along with four auxiliary airfields.

Laurinburg-Maxton AAB was opened in late October 1942 and placed under the jurisdiction of I Troop Carrier Command. Its main mission was to train and equip glider airborne units for coordinated training with Army paratroop, infantry, artillery, engineers and medical units. The Troop Carrier Groups trained at the base all used Douglas C-47s and Waco CG-4A gliders. Units trained at Laurinburg-Maxton later took part in Operation Torch in French Morocco, in the liberation of Sicily and mainland Italy, and in Operation Overlord in Normandy. From Early 1944, most of the glider towing training conducted at Bowman Field, KY was transfered to Laurinburg-Maxton, making it the largest glider towing training base in the world. However, the base saw very little Commando operations.

As WWII drew to a close, activity diminished and the military base was shutdown in late October 1945. As planned, Laurinburg-Maxton became a civilian airport.

810^th AAF Base Unit (I Troop Carrier Command Combat Crew Training School, Troop Carrier) (April 1944 to October 1945)

• Curtiss C-46A-55-CK Commando: 43-47190