Shangqiu Airport (Chinese: 商丘机场), or Shangqiu Air Base, is a military air base near the city of Shangqiu in China's Henan Province. It is located in Guantang Township, Liangyuan District, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of the city center. The airport was built in the 1930s and was known as Gui'de (Chinese: 归德 wg: Kwei-teh) Airbase, and served in national defense operations during the Sino-Japanese War,[1] and the planning as of the 2000s is to convert the air base into a dual-use military and civil airport with an estimated investment of 500 million, and commercial operations of the airport estimated to serve 300,000 passengers and 1,000 tons of cargo per year by 2020.[2]
History
In March-April 1938, the Nationalist Air Force of China staged the 3rd and 4th Fighter-Attack Group squadrons at Gui'de (w.g. Kwei-teh, now Shangqiu) Airbase to ground-support operations at the Battle of Taierzhuang; I-15 fighter pilots Lt. Chen Huaimin and Lt. Zhang Guangming were both outnumbered by superior numbers of Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Ki-10 fighters and although Lt. Chen shot-down one Ki-10, he rammed another, taking both the enemy and his own plane down, and then parachuting to safety with a bullet-wound in his leg, while Lt. Zhang fought against six Ki-10s, and was ultimately shot-down, but managed to also parachute to safety, and the two pilots would reunite through the assistance of local villagers later on the ground, and return safely to Gui'de (Shangqiu) Airbase.[3] Air battles would however, continue to rage over Gui'de (Shangqiu) Airbase even as the Battle of Taierzhuang was already won; top IJAAF fighter ace 1Lt. Kosuke Kawahara of the 2nd Chutai/2nd Datai fought an air battle over Gui'de (Shangqiu) Airbase, shooting down two Chinese I-15s, but he was himself shot down and killed over Gui'de (Shangqiu) Airbase on 25 March 1938.[4][5]Lt. Zhang Mingsheng of the 21st PS, 4th PG surprise-attacked an enemy fighter and shooting it down on 10 April 1938 in defense of the airbase, but was quickly jumped by others, and his I-15 fighter was shot-up, making a crash-landing, nonetheless surviving to fight again.[6][7]
^Gustavsson, Hakans. "Japanese biplane fighter aces - Kosuke Kawahara". Biplane Fighter Aces - Japan. Retrieved 2021-01-30. On 25 March 1938 the 1st chutai of the 2nd Daitai (Ki-10s), commanded by Captain Tateo Kato fought with Chinese I-152s over Guide. First Lieutenant Kawahara (leading the second element) was seen to shoot down two and pursue a third to the ground, when his aircraft was hit from behind and burst into flames. On return Kato could not believe that such a brilliant pilot as First Lieutenant Kawahara had been lost, and waited at the airfield until sunset in the hope of his late return. Next day as a sign of mourning, he shaved off a much beloved moustache.
^Chai 蔡, George 乔治. "第三大隊第8中隊中隊長 陸光球 3rd Group 8th Squadron's Lu Guangqiu". Flying Tigers & CACW. Retrieved 1 November 2024. 當陸光球率領戰機出色完成任務返航時，在歸德遭到了大批敵機的伏擊；當時敵機的總領隊是一個名叫新川的少佐，而加藤建夫也參與了這次的伏擊... 當時陸光球的14架戰機是在被敵機突然包圍的情況下迎戰的，雖然是倉促應戰，但在陸光球的指揮下，中國空軍還是取得了擊落了日軍6架戰機，重創2架的戰績... 值得注意的是，在被中國空軍擊落的6架日本戰機中，有一架是一個名叫川原幸助的日本中尉駕駛的，而這個川原中尉卻是加藤建夫最為倚重的左膀右臂！When Lu Guangqiu led his fighter-bombers back to Gui'de Air Base from a successful attack mission against Japanese forces, they were ambushed by a large number of enemy planes over Gui'de; the leader of the enemy planes at that time was a Major named Shinkawa, and famed ace-fighter pilot Takeo Kato and Kawahara Kosuke also participated in the ambush... at that moment, Lu Guangqiu and his 14 fighter planes were suddenly surrounded the enemy and immediately turned to face the battle. Although they responded hastily, under the command of Lu Guangqiu, the Chinese Air Force still achieved a record of shooting down 6 Japanese fighter planes and severely damaging 2... It's worth noting that among the 6 Japanese fighter planes shot down by the Chinese Air Force that day over Gui'de, one was flown by the Lieutenant and ace fighter pilot Kawahara Kosuke, who was Kato Takeo's most important right-hand man!
