Qualla: Dudhkundi Airfield https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Dudhkundi Airfield https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield Dudhkundi Airfield: Introduction https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield/ Before the war, Dudhkundi was a forest belonging to the king of Jhargram. What he gave to the United States Army Air Force in the early 1940s was land -- dense, remote, and approximately twelve miles southeast of the nearest town in what is now West Bengal's Jhargram district. What the Americans built on it was one of four B-29 Superfortress bases in eastern India, a launchpad for Operation Matterhorn's audacious plan to bomb Japan from the Asian continent. The forest became an airfield. The airfield launched missions across half the world. Then the war ended, and the forest began taking the airfield back.

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/g/v/y/dudhkundi-airfield-wp/tgvy-dudhkundi-airfield-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Dudhkundi Airfield: The 444th Arrives https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield/ Dudhkundi was originally designed for B-24 Liberator operations, but in 1943 it was selected for upgrade to accommodate the enormous B-29 Superfortress as part of the XX Bomber Command's deployment to India. Thousands of Indian laborers worked to expand and strengthen the runways...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/g/v/y/dudhkundi-airfield-wp/tgvy-dudhkundi-airfield-the-444th-arrives.mp3 0:06 2 full Dudhkundi Airfield: The Longest Raid https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield/ From Dudhkundi and its forward base at Kwanghan Airfield near Chengdu, the 444th struck targets across a vast arc of the Pacific war: transportation centers, naval installations, and aircraft plants in Burma, China, Thailand, Japan, and Formosa. But the mission that distinguished...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/g/v/y/dudhkundi-airfield-wp/tgvy-dudhkundi-airfield-the-longest-raid.mp3 0:06 3 full Dudhkundi Airfield: Streamlined for the End https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield/ In September 1944, the 679th Bomb Squadron was inactivated to streamline the group's organization, leaving the 444th with three squadrons of ten B-29s each -- a leaner force for a campaign that was already running out of rationale. The Japanese offensive in South China in late 19...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/g/v/y/dudhkundi-airfield-wp/tgvy-dudhkundi-airfield-streamlined-for-the-end.mp3 0:06 4 full Dudhkundi Airfield: The Jungle Reclaims https://qualla.com/dudhkundi-airfield/ With the B-29s gone, Dudhkundi became a depot for the detritus of war. The 87th Air Depot Group took command, and the airfield's new mission was unglamorous but necessary: maintaining and disposing of surplus Allied aircraft. The 80th Fighter Group arrived in May 1945 from its fo...

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]]> Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/g/v/y/dudhkundi-airfield-wp/tgvy-dudhkundi-airfield-the-jungle-reclaims.mp3 0:06 5 full