World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe name of Minggugong Airfield referred to the former palace and administrative buildings of the Ming Dynasty China government, the airfield having been built southwest of the former palace grounds, outside of the Nanjing city wall. It was initially established in 1927, it became a military airfield from which the Chinese Air Force could operate light bombers. In Apr 1929, it was upgraded for the first time, modernizing the old compacted-earth runway, and upon the completion of the work the airfield became a mixed civilian-military airfield, with regular passenger flights to and from Shanghai. The first civilian flight to land at Minggugong Airfield was a postal service aircraft from Shanghai, carrying 2,000 pieces of mail. During Japanese occupation, it was struck by US 14th Army Air Force bombers twice, in Jan 1945 and Feb 1945. In Jun 1947, the runway was extended, a new lobby for passengers awaiting their flight was built, and additional navigation lights were installed to assist in night time landings. After the communist takeover of mainland China, it was taken over by the communist military, and civilian flights were gradually diverted to other airports due to the build up of taller builders in surrounding neighborhoods. It formally ceased operations in Jul 1956, and it was eventually demolished to pave way for the present Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

ww2dbaseThe name was alternatively translated as Ming Ku Kung or Ming Koo Kung under the Wade-Giles romanization method. Some Japanese documents referred to this airfield by the name of Daiko, and American documents referred to this airfield by the name of Nanking.

Minggugong Airfield Interactive Map

Photographs

Minggugong Airfield Timeline