Haleiwa Fighter Strip
Haleiwa Fighter Strip
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| Part of Seventh Air Force | |
| Haleʻiwa, Oahu, Hawaii | |
Haleiwa Fighter Strip 1933
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| Coordinates | 21°36′16″N 158°6′8″W / 21.60444°N 158.10222°WCoordinates: 21°36′16″N 158°6′8″W / 21.60444°N 158.10222°W |
| Type | Military airfield |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | United States Army Air Corps |
Haleiwa Fighter Strip was a military airfield located on Oahu, Hawaii. It was used as part of the island's defense in World War II.
This obscure former military strip became famous during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Originally used as an emergency landing field for Fighter aircraft, in 1941 Haleiwa Field had only an unpaved landing strip and very austere conditions. Haleiwa Field was mainly used to simulate real battle conditions for gunnery training. Those on temporary duty there had to bring their own tents and equipment. During the war, the runway was paved and it became a busy reliever base for fighter aircraft patrolling the islands. A World War II era photo depicted a Bell P-39 taxiing past a temporary wooden control tower and another wooden building at Haleiwa.
On December 7 the Japanese heavily strafed the aircraft at Wheeler Field and few were able to get airborne to fend them off. Haleiwa was an auxiliary field to Wheeler and contained a collection of aircraft temporarily assigned to the field including aircraft from the 47th Fighter Squadron. A total of eight Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and 2 Curtiss P-36 Mohawk pursuit planes were at the field on the morning of December 7.
Lt. George S. Welch and 2nd Lt. Kenneth M. Taylor, both P-40 pilots, were at Wheeler when the attack began. They had previously flown their P-40B fighters over to the small airfield at Haleiwa as part of a plan to disperse the squadron’s planes away from Wheeler. Not waiting for instructions the pilots called ahead to Haleiwa and had both their fighters fueled, armed and warmed up. Both men raced in their cars to Haleiwa Field completing the 16-mile trip in about 15 minutes. With their P-40s, now warmed up and ready, they jumped into their cockpits. The crew chiefs informed them that they should disperse their planes. "The hell with that", said Welch. Ignoring the usual pre-takeoff checklists the aircraft took off down the narrow airstrip.
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