World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe airfield 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) west of Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States in the Tularosa Basin was originally planned for the British Overseas Training program, which was canceled during the airfield's construction. When it was completed, it was established as an US Army airfield. Between 1942 and 1945, it hosted more than 20 different air groups. Starting in 1943, it began hosting training operations. Later in the year, the Alamogordo Gasoline Storage and Pumping Station Annex was added under the command of the airfield commanding officer. In Apr 1945, before the end of WW2, the airfield was relieved of its training mission and had plans to become a permanent bomber operating base, but after the war it operated on a skeleton crew for some time. In Jul 1945, Operation Trinity, the test detonation of the world's first atomic weapon, took place in the northern sector of the Alamogordo Bombing Range (now the White Sands Missile Range). To cover up, the Alamogordo Army Air Field issued a press release noting that an ammunition dump exploded in an accident which caused no injuries. The atomic test remained a secret until after the destruction of Hiroshima, Japan on 6 Aug 1945. With the formation of the United States Air Force in Sep 1947, it was renamed the Holloman Air Force Base in Jan 1948, and it grew to encompass the White Sands Proving Ground (later New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range, and then White Sands Missile Range). Under the USAF, it hosted a variety of units including tactical fighter wings, missile research groups, foreign (German and British) training units, and Aero-Medical Field Laboratory which launched a chimpanzee named Ham into suborbital flight. Holloman Air Force Base remains an active USAF base at the time of this writing in 2021.

Alamogordo Army Air Field Interactive Map

Photographs

Alamogordo Army Air Field Timeline

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