Dinjan Airfield


Dinjan Airfield, also known as Dinjan Air Force Station, is an air base of Indian Air Force. Established as an air field in World War II, it is located in Dinjan, approximately seven miles northeast of Chabua, in the state of Assam, India.
The fall of Singapore and Rangoon in early 1942 propelled Dinjan airbase to be the centre of attention as the main supply line between India and China. It housed a major hospital for evacuees from Burma during the Second World War. It was abandoned after the war, till 1964 when Indian Air Force established its surveillance base here. It houses one squadron of Apache attack helicopters.

History

Dinjan Airfield was built on an Assam tea plantation by thousands of plantation laborers, beginning in March 1942, as a result of the Japanese invasion of Burma in December 1941. It opened in the spring of 1942 with No 5 Squadron RAF and a squadron of Curtis Mohawk fighter aircraft, which remained until the Autumn of 1942 before moving to Agatala; This unit's primary mission was the protection of cargo aircraft flying over The Hump from nearby Chabua Airfield to China.
The site was also occupied by 11th Bombardment Squadron, USAAF between June and October 1942. The squadron was initially equipped with a mixture of B-25 Mitchells and LB-30s (B-24A Liberators) and flew missions against targets in Burma.
In October 1942, the Indian Air Task Force was activated at Dinjan to support Chinese resistance along the Salween River by hitting supply lines in central and southern Burma. The task force controlled operational activities of all Army Air Force units in India.
On 13 December 1943, 20 Japanese bombers, escorted by 25 fighters, hit Dinjan Airfield before US interceptors could make contact; however, little damage was done and the US fighters caught the attackers shortly afterward. 12 of the 20 Japanese bombers and five fighters were shot down.
In the summer of 1944 with the lessening of the Japanese air threat, the base became a combat cargo airfield, supporting Allied ground forces fighting in Burma.
With the end of combat in September 1945, Dinjan Airfield was abandoned. Today, the runways of the former airfield can still be seen from aerial photography, however the base is overrun with vegetation and the land has returned to its natural state.