The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Library of Congress. Via Wikimedia
Commons
Santa Maria (120.437W 34.937N) was the location of an oilfield in central California. Production was about a 300,000 barrels a year during the war years.
Land had been purchased for an airfield southwest of Santa
Maria (120.46W
34.90N) by the time war broke out in the Pacific. By May
1942 the field was ready to receive bombers. By late 1943 it had
become clear that the airfield was unsuitable for bomber
operations due to an inadequate soil base under the runways, and
the base became a major training
base for pilots of P-38 Lightning fighters.
References
California State Military Department (accessed 2008-6-28)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2008, 2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index
