Sayan Chatterjee, West Bengal, 21st April, 2025: Where history lingers in the dust: forgotten stories whisper through the cracks, waiting to be unearthed by those brave enough to listen.In the shadowed silence of Bengal’s southwestern frontier, far from the noisy tumult of war memorials and curated museums, lies a stretch of forgotten land. It is quiet here—eerily so.
Birds flit across rusted signboards, buffaloes graze where bombers once idled, and the wind occasionally lifts dust from broken concrete slabs. This is Dudhkundi Airfield—a now-abandoned site that once stood at the crossroads of empire, ambition, and air power during the defining global conflict of the 20th century.
Here, in what is now a pastoral landscape, American B-29 Superfortresses once thundered into the skies on missions that would reshape the dynamics of warfare in Asia. But as decades passed and empires fell, the jungle crept back, and memory—so closely tied to monuments and state narratives—let go. Dudhkundi, however, never disappeared. It simply waited.
1942–1943: Building a Runway Through Time
The Dudhkundi Airfield was born out of urgency. As the United States ramped up its involvement in World War II following the Pearl Harbor attack, the Allied focus shifted to the China-Burma-India (CBI) theatre, an arena often overshadowed by the European and Pacific fronts.
By mid-1942, British India was a critical staging ground for air power projection. Thousands of Indian laborers, working under the combined directives of the British colonial authorities and the U.S. Army Air Forces, cleared forests, poured concrete, and built the facilities necessary for housing America’s newest technological marvel: the B-29 Superfortress.
Initially designed for B-24 Liberators, Dudhkundi’s infrastructure had to be rapidly upgraded. Long, reinforced runways, bomb-proof hangars, fuel depots, and command centers emerged over the course of months. Its strategic location—about 12 miles southeast of Jhargram and relatively close to China—made it ideal for missions requiring extended range.
1944: Operation Matterhorn and the 444th Bombardment Group
In June 1944, Dudhkundi became the Indian base for the 444th Bombardment Group, part of Op-Matterhorn, a bold American initiative to bomb the Japanese home islands from Chinese staging areas. But there was a challenge: B-29s, while long-ranged, couldn’t complete the round trip to Japan from India without refueling.
This gave rise to one of the war’s most grueling logistics operations—flights “over The Hump.” American bombers and transports flew over the Himalayas, ferrying fuel, parts, and bombs to Chinese forward bases in Chengdu. The route was dangerous. Aircraft often succumbed to storms, icing, engine failure, or enemy interception.
Despite these hazards, Dudhkundi played a starring role. On August 10–11, 1944, it served as the launchpad for one of the war’s longest bombing missions: a 4,030-mile round trip to Palembang, Sumatra, targeting Japanese oil installations. This mission set records and tested the limits of endurance and aeronautical engineering.
1945: The War Moves East, and Dudhkundi Fades
As American forces captured islands in the Pacific—like Tinian and Saipan—the need for Chinese and Indian bases diminished. In March 1945, the 444th Bombardment Group relocated to the Marianas. Dudhkundi, once humming with aircraft and airmen, began its slow descent into silence.
For a brief period, it served as a maintenance and aircraft disposal site under the Tenth Air Force. The 7th Bombardment Group also passed through its gates before the airfield was officially decommissioned and returned to the British colonial government in 1946.
The Human Side: Forgotten Heroes of a Forgotten Front
The story of Dudhkundi is not just one of steel and strategy. It is also deeply human. Indian labourers who built the airfield worked in gruelling conditions, often with minimal equipment. Local villagers witnessed—sometimes in awe, sometimes in fear—the arrival of massive American aircraft and foreign personnel. Stories from elders in surrounding areas, now fading into memory, recall “flying machines that blotted out the sky” and the “loud thunder of engines that shook the trees.”
American airmen, many of them in their early 20s, lived in makeshift quarters, dealt with tropical diseases, navigated cultural disorientation, and faced death every time they flew. For many, Dudhkundi was their first experience of India—and their last sight of land.
2025: Ruins, Remnants, and a Resurfacing Legacy
Today, Dudhkundi Airfield is abandoned, reclaimed by nature and the slow rhythms of rural life. Yet, from satellite imagery, its outline is still visible—a testament to the past in geometry. The once-busy runways now serve as grazing land. Villages like Bhulanpur, where a WWII-era bomb was discovered in 2024, remind us that war leaves behind more than memory—it leaves metal, scarred earth, and inherited silence.
The area is loosely linked to the Kalaikunda Air Force Station and is occasionally used as a firing range, though no public infrastructure exists to honour its history. Unlike airfields in Europe or the U.S., Dudhkundi has no plaques, no preserved hangars, and no visitor centres. Its preservation is left to time, academic research, and local lore.
What Dudhkundi Teaches Us?
Dudhkundi Airfield challenges our perception of historical memory. Not all battlefields are marked. Not all sacrifices are enshrined. Some stories, like this one, wait quietly beneath layers of earth and forgetfulness, only to be unearthed decades later—by a bomb, a photograph, or the curiosity of a wandering journalist. To visit Dudhkundi is not to see grandeur. It is to feel the weight of time. To recognise that history lives in more than monuments—it lives in the land, in stories whispered by the old, and in runways cracked but unbroken.
For adventurous explorers seeking a unique off-the-beaten-path experience, Dudhkundi, located near Jhargram in West Bengal, offers an exciting opportunity. Situated approximately 20 km from the town, Dudhkundi is a pristine destination lacking typical tourism infrastructure, making it ideal for those seeking to explore untouched landscapes. While travelling to this hidden gem, you will need a private vehicle or the expertise of a local guide, as there are no official road signs.
However, be mindful of the area’s safety protocols—avoid trespassing in zones associated with Indian Air Force activities. This remote haven is ideal for those seeking an authentic experience while adhering to local regulations. Unsung and forgotten airfields like Dudhkundi Airfield can be revived to their former glory, ready to serve whenever the need arises, because we never know when the call might come.
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