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 USAFFE April 8, 1937  USAAF Oct 21, 1944   David Mason 2000  Justin Taylan 2024 |
Location Lat 10° 54' 0" N Long 123° 21' 0" E Fabrica Airfield was located near Fabrica in Negros Occidental Province on Negros Island in the Western Visayas Region (Region VI) of the Philippines. To the west and southwest is the Himugaan River. Today Barangay Fabrica is part of Sagay (Sagay City). Construction Built prewar as a private airfield with a single runway classified as a civilian national landing field used by Iloilo-Negros Air Express Company (INAEC) to ferry passengers from Manila or Iloilo. Most passengers were executives and managers for Insular Lumber Company and Lopez Sugar Central in Fabrica. Also, wealthy Filipino Hacienderos (landowners). Prewar remarks state that at least four days notice must be given for an arrival so the grass can be cut. The USAFFE listed Fabrica Airfield as a civil strip that could be used for military deployment and dispersal in case of hostilities. Wartime History On December 8, 1941 after the start of the Pacific War, employees from Insular Lumber Company placed barrels across the runway to prevent planes from landing. On January 4, 1942 in the afternoon, P-40E Warhawk pilot Joe Cole flying from Bataan Airfield bound for Del Monte Airfield ran low on fuel over northern Negros. Circling Fabrica Airfield, he saw barrels across the runway. Signaling he wished to land, there was no effort to remove the barrels and he crash landed on a nearby sugarcane field and and was knocked unconscious. Cole was dragged from his plane by employees of Insular Lumber and awoke in a local hospital two days later. Later, he was taken by boat to Mindanao then to Del Monte Airfield. During Japanese occupation of the Philippines, in the middle or late 1942 expanded by the Japanese Army using local Filipino labor pressed into service into a military airfield. By October 21, 1944 the runway was 5,000' x 500' with a possible further extensions of 1000'. The runway was surrounded by taxiways, revetments and storage areas. Tony Feredo adds: "My grandfather and my uncle plus their sugar cane cutters worked on Fabrica Airfield as free labor (forced labor)." During October 1944, the first Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) fighter aircraft arrived at Fabrica Airfield began arriving to opposed the American landings on eastern Leyte by escorting bombers and flying fighter sweeps. By November 1944 most units depart due to combat losses. Several remain until February 1945 or March 1945. Japanese units based at Fabrica Airfield 20th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43-II and Ki-43-III Oscars) November 1944–December 1944 24th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb and Ki-43-III) arrives October 1944–November 1944 26th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb) arrives October 1944–November 1944 30th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb detachment) arrives October 1944–November 1944 31st Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb and IIc and III) arrives July 44–Sept 44 returns Oct-Nov 1944 and Nov 44–Mar 45 33rd Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb and a few III) arrives Oct 1944–Nov 1944 54th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43-IIb and Ki-43-III Oscars) arrives Nov 1944–February 1945 24th Dokuritsu Chutai (Ki-43IIb) arrives October 1944–November 1944 204th Hiko Sentai (Ki-43IIb) arrives October 1944–November 1944 1st Hakko Unit (Ki-43-III) arrives November 1944–December 1944 Starting in early November 1944, targeted by American bombers and fighters until late April 1945. Afterwards, during July 1945 and early August 1945 bombers targeted a pocket of Japanese resistance south of Fabrica. American missions against Fabrica November 6, 1944–August 5, 1945 By late April 1945 liberated by the U.S. Army. At Fabrica Airfield, Allied Technical Intelligence Unit (ATIU) noted the wreckage of sixteen Ki-43-II Oscars, twenty-three Ki-43-III Oscars, one Ki-84 Frank, one Ki-61 Tony, one Ki-51 Sonia and one Ki-48 Lily. Today The former airfield is replanted with sugar cane fields and the Faraon Institute in Sagay. Nearby, in Tinago Cemetery (Hidden Cemetery) is Japanese War Memorial Chinkon. Japanese War Memorial Chinkon A Japanese war memorial Chinkon dedicated to fallen Japanese pilots at nearby Tinago Cemetery (Hidden Cemetery) built in 1976 by Mr. Shimada Yasuya formerly a Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) Captain assigned to the 54th Hiko Sentai (54th Flying Regiment). References Philippine Islands Area - Fabrica Occ. Negros pages 20-21 Index to Air Bases - Research Report No. 85, I.G. No 9185 - July 30, 1944 ATIU Intelligence Summary No. 281 "Planes Recovered on Airfields" July 21, 1945 page 27 via Tony Feredo "Fabrica A/D, Negros: Oscar 2 - 16, Oscar 3 - 23, Frank - 1, Tony - 1, Sonia - 1, Lily - 1" Philippine War Memorial Preservation Association, Inc. - Chinkon (ID: 1193) The Little Giants U.S. Escort Carriers Against Japan (1987) pages 127, 137, 263, 430 (footnote 36), 456 (index Fabrica) Doomed At The Start (1995) by William H. Bartsch pages 227 (map), 228, 229, 291, 492 (index Fabrica) Thanks to David Mason and Tony Feredo for additional information Contribute
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