Monday, July 1, 2019

The 1942 Battle of Midway was staged from joint Navy Marine Ewa Field



Ewa Field History Project   P.O. Box 75578   Kapolei, Hawaii 96707

By John Bond, Ewa historian
  
Many people do not know that NAS Barbers Point became operational through it's junior brother Naval Air Station Ewa while the larger NAS Barbers Point was being built in 1942.

While it may never have become an official name, it and "NAS Barbers Point" were widely used for Ewa Field in early 1942, mainly because of the large presence of two Navy aircraft carrier air groups during the critical early 1942 Pacific war period.This caused a great deal of later incorrect histories attributed to Barbers Point which in fact weren't true.

The history of Marine Corps Air Station Ewa officially began in September 1942, however it was a very busy and rapidly expanding joint Navy-Marine air base shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Virtually all of the construction material, manpower and money for NAS Barbers Point was redirected to Ewa Field while NAS Barbers Point was put on hold until the very crucial June 1942 Battle of Midway victory helped the Navy reassign construction priority to Barbers Point.

75th Anniversary and Commemoration at historic Ewa Field. Also history of the Battle of Midway where many Navy and Marine planes trained and operated from in early 1942. Ewa Field help support major US Navy aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific including the Doolittle Raid and Coral Sea battles. MCAS Ewa also supported the major Pacific battle for Guadalcanal.

75th Anniversary Battle of Midway Commemoration - Ewa Field

 




 Historic Ewa Field Concrete Warm-Up Parking Ramp


 Remains of Ewa Field planes destroyed on December 7, 1941 buried by main runway


 Marine R4D (C-47) ready to carry supplies, ground crew, ammunition to Midway Atoll



 When the Ewa Field ramp was constructed a worker left this note in the concrete


 Every R4D available rushed supplies and ammunition to Midway Atoll for the big buildup


Pearl Harbor historian Daniel Martinez


Midway historian and chairman of the International Midway Memorial Foundation 
James D'Angelo


 Small but dedicated veterans and community turned out for the low key commemoration


 The always excellent and highly professional Hickam AFB Honor Guard 


 The most visible remains of the 1941-1945 airfield. 
However many other undocumented historic archeological sites remain