The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Haleiwa (158.11W
21.59N) was the location of a small fishing port and a secondary Army airfield used for gunnery training for fighters from Wheeler Field. The airfield had a single 1200' (365m) runway and was equipped with radar (likely SCR-270), but the radar
was not in operation at the time of the attack. There was a battery of four 8" (203mm) coastal defense guns in the vicinity.
47 Fighter Squadron was at the airfield for gunnery practice on 7 December 1941. The squadron was equipped with a grab bag of aircraft: 1 P-36, 11 P-40B, 2 P-40C, and a Martin Bomber. The Japanese seemingly overlooked the airfield, which was not attacked during the Pearl Harbor strike. Most of the American pilots were on leave or at Wheeler, but six of the pilots raced back to Haleiwa and were able to take off and shoot down as many as eleven Japanese aircraft while losing four of their own. Four B-17s arriving from the mainland were diverted to Haleiwa.
References
Arakaki and Kuborn (1991; accessed 2012-9-3)
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