At that time, there were much closer air fields and islands (were there not.?) What made Tinian "the place" for the enola gay.? Thank You
It seems it was a mix of orientation, size, who was assigned there, and proabably deception (a bit like Fortitude ) "Once under American control, a massive construction project was begun on the north end of Tinian. Operating for over 45 days and nights, often while under fire, the Seabees initially repaired and extended the existing 4,380 ft runway and then added an additional two runways, each 8,000 ft long and lying in an East-West direction. Nearly the entire northern end of the island was occupied by runways, the airfield area, and the various support facilities and containment areas. The Ushi Point Airfield was expanded with three 8000' runways involving the movement of nearly 1,000,000 cubic yards of earth and coral and the accumulation of some 900,000 truck miles. A fourth runway was constructed in May 1945 and hardstands built for 265 B-29 bombers. The four parallel 8,000 ft runways are oriented nearly East-West. Upon completion, North Field was the largest airfield in the world." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Field_(Tinian)
The three big islands of the Marianas - Saipan, Guam, and Tinian - were the bases for the B-29s, the only aircraft we had which could reach Japan from there (other than the small number of B-32s). Or to look at it another way, they were the first islands we captured from which we could bomb Japan. That was one of the reasons for taking them, and as Skipper mentioned, airfields and related infrastructure were promptly established. By August 1945 there were over 1400 B-29s operating from the Marianas. They were also out of range of potential Japanese attack, where airfields on nearer islands like Iwo Jima or Okinawa could be and were attacked. These islands were used primarily for aircraft of shorter range than B-29s, although the -29s could use them in emergencies, as Bockscar did after bombing Nagasaki. Basing the 509th with its distinctive "B-sans" on one of the closer islands might have invited attack - why take the chance?
Holy Cow...!! I had no idea of the vast scale (regards the runways and airfields) at Tinian. Thanks For The (GREAT...!!) Info
