Hsinchu Airfield (Shinchiku Airfield)

Hsinchu Airfield (Japanese: 新竹飛行場, Shinchiku Hikōjō) was one of the largest military airfields constructed by the Japanese Empire on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). Opened in 1936 (on 19 May by one account) during the era of Japanese colonial rule, the airfield was situated in Shinchiku City (modern Hsinchu) in northern Taiwan and served mainly as an Imperial Japanese Navy air base and a training field for land-based attack bombers.

The airfield rose to historical prominence on November 25, 1943, when it became the target of the first American air raid on Formosa. The mission was a joint operation between the United States Army Air Forces' 14th Air Force and the newly formed Chinese-American Composite Wing (CACW). Colonel David Lee "Tex" Hill of the 23rd Fighter Group led the strike force, which consisted of 8 B-25 Mitchell bombers from the 11th Bombardment Squadron and 6 B-25s from the CACW's 2nd Bomber Squadron, escorted by 8 P-38G Lightning and 8 P-51A Mustang fighters, one of which aborted after take-off. The force staged through Suichuan (遂川) airfield in Jiangxi Province, China.

The surprise attack was devastatingly effective. Arriving over Shinchiku at low altitude, the bombers and fighters caught the Japanese completely off guard. Allied crews judged that some 40 aircraft had been destroyed on the ground and more than a dozen shot down; Japanese navy records admitted four aircraft shot down and 13 bombers destroyed on the ground. Hangars, barracks, and support facilities were heavily damaged. The raiders did not lose a single aircraft, making it one of the most successful operations in the 14th Air Force's history. The raid was so damaging that the Japanese Navy's Shinchiku Air Group (新竹海軍航空隊) was dissolved on January 1, 1944, with surviving trainees redistributed to other units — evidence that actual losses far exceeded official Japanese reports of 25 servicemen killed.

Between 1943 and 1945, Shinchiku Airfield was subjected to repeated attacks: China-based USAAF bombers returned multiple times in 1944; on October 12-14, 1944, carrier aircraft from USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) and USS Intrepid (CV-11) struck the field during the Formosa Air Battle, destroying 4 hangars, 8 workshops, and 2 barracks; on January 17, 1945, 78 B-29 Superfortresses from the XX Bomber Command bombed the airfield; and British carrier aircraft from HMS Victorious attacked on April 13, 1945. In total, Shinchiku and its surrounding area received the greatest tonnage of American bombs among all locations on Taiwan during the entire war.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, the airfield was transferred to the Republic of China Air Force. During the Cold War, it housed F-104 Starfighters. Today, as Hsinchu Air Force Base (ICAO: RCPO), it is home to the 2nd Tactical Fighter Wing operating Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighters, serving as a frontline air defense installation.