Atsugi Airfield
| Type | 66 Air Base | |
| Historical Name of Location | Ayase, Kanagawa, Japan | |
| Coordinates | 35.454722000, 139.450000000 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe Japanese Navy established the Atsugi Airfield, named after the city 7 kilometers to the west of the airfield site, in 1938. It was made the base of the 302 Naval Aviation Corps, whose fighters were among the defenders of the Tokyo region against American bombing. When the war ended, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Japan via Atsugi. After the war, it housed units of the US Army Air Force 3rd Bombardment Group, USAAF 49th Fighter Group, 1539th Army Air Forces Base Unit, and then USAAF 418th Night Fighter Squadron through 1946. After the departure of those units in late 1946, the airfield was kept to minimal usage until the Korean War, which was taken over by the US Navy and was renamed Naval Air Station Atsugi in Dec 1950. Atsugi would remain an active US military base through the date of this writing. Well known historical events tied to Atsugi included the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft that was downed over the Soviet Union in 1960 (which took off from Atsugi) and the 1964 crash of a US Marine Corps F8U-2 Crusader aircraft that killed 32 civilians in Tokyo.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: May 2014
Atsugi Airfield Interactive Map
Photographs
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Atsugi Airfield Timeline
| 30 Aug 1945 | Douglas MacArthur arrived at Atsugi Airfield near Tokyo, Japan. |
| 8 Sep 1945 | Elements of the USAAF 3rd Bomberment Group was assigned to Atsugi Airfield in Japan. |
| 15 Sep 1945 | Elements of the USAAF 49th Fighter Group was assigned to Atsugi Airfield in Japan. |
| 22 Sep 2000 | Saburo Sakai passed away from a heart attack while being a guest at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
| WW2-Era Place Name | Ayase, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Lat/Long | 35.4547, 139.4500 |
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Thomas Dodd, late 1945
30 Dec 2017 08:03:16 PM
In an old bldg. there I once read
a corner stone that stated that the
building had been used for abortions
that occured after a demoralized Japan
military returned home and started to
rape the local population.
I did not like working there in the
first place but after reading that
it became very upsetting!