Del Monte Airfield

It was built on a natural meadow on the Del Monte Pineapple Corporation plantation along the Sayre Highway, in the municipality of Maluko (now Manolo Fortich) of Bukidnon Province in northern Mindanao.The airfield was established as part of the build-up of United States military forces in the Philippines due to the rising tensions with the Japanese Empire.[1] In mid-November 1941, with the creation of the FEAF, General Douglas MacArthur approved the expansion of Del Monte into a heavy bomber base for the 7th Bombardment Group, projected to arrive in early December.[2] On the morning of 4 December, after the only operational FEAF radar site detected Japanese weather reconnaissance flights on several successive nights, MacArthur's headquarters ordered the 19th BG to be moved out of range of direct attack.They attacked a Japanese minesweeper and a transport, thought to be a destroyer, with meager results, and 9 naval aircraft based on the Legaspi strip.General Brereton therefore requested authority on December 15 to move the B-17s to Darwin in northwest Australia, 1,500 miles away, where they could be based safely and serviced properly.On December 22, 1941, 9 B-17's from Batchelor Field near Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, attacked shipping in Davao Bay, Mindanao Island and landed at Del Monte.On Thursday, March 26, 1942, Del Monte was again used to evacuate Philippine President, Manuel Quezon, his family, doctors, chaplain, and senior staff.The last of the 24th Pursuit Group's aircraft were captured or destroyed by enemy forces on or about May 1, 1942 when the airfield was abandoned by the United States, leaving its facilities to the Japanese invaders.The Gen. Douglas MacArthur Landmark was erected by the Rotary Club of Northern Bukidnon in Barangay Dicklum to mark the site of Del Monte Field.
Aerial view of Del Monte Landing Field, 1936
Gen. Douglas MacArthur evacuation memorial in Diklum, Bukidnon in Mindanao, bearing the inscription In alis vincimus (On wings we conquer)
Far East Air ForceMindanaoPhilippinesM1917 HelmetUnited States Army Air ForcesWorld War IIheavy bomberDel Monte CorporationB-17 Flying FortressDel Monte Pineapple CorporationSayre HighwayManolo FortichBukidnonpoblaciónJapanese EmpireDouglas MacArthur7th Bombardment GroupVisayasHarold H. GeorgeLewis H. Brereton93d Bombardment SquadronsBattle of the Philippines (1942)Nichols FieldsLegaspi, LuzonGeneral BreretonDarwinAustraliaBatchelor FieldDarwin, Northern TerritoryLingayen GulfGeneral MacArthurPT boatCorregidorB-17 Flying Fortresses24th Pursuit GroupNichols FieldDouglas MacArthur evacuationPhilippines Campaign (1944–45)United States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific Theatrepublic domain materialFifth Air ForceUSAAF in AustraliaUSAAF in the Southwest PacificV BomberV Fighter5th Interceptor (Provisional)54th Troop Carrier85th Fighter86th Fighter91st Reconnaissance308th Bombardment309th Bombardment310th Bombardment3d Air Commando3d Bombardment7th Bombardment19th Bombardment22d Bombardment27th Bombardment38th Bombardment43d Bombardment90th Bombardment312th Bombardment345th Bombardment380th Bombardment417th Bombardment2d Combat Cargo8th Fighter24th Pursuit35th Fighter49th Fighter58th Fighter348th Fighter475th Fighter6th Reconnaissance71st Reconnaissance317th Troop Carrier374th Troop Carrier375th Troop Carrier433d Troop Carrier31st Bombardment418th Night Fighter421st Night Fighter547th Intelligence2d Observation8th Photographic Reconnaissance36th Photographic Reconnaissance21st Troop Carrier22d Troop Carrier65th Troop Carrier66th Troop CarrierSecondFourthSeventhEighthEleventhTwelfthThirteenthFourteenthFifteenthTwentieth