The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Wendover Field (114.03W 40.72N) was located in western Utah near the Nevada border. The site was selected for a bombing range in April 1940, but title to the land was not secured until 1940, and work began on 4 November. The original area of 1,560,000 acres was increased by another 262,200 acres in February 1941. It became the largest bombing range in the world. In January 1942 the field was redesignated an air base.
The field was used by 2 Air Force for heavy bomber training. The relative isolation of the site made it ideal for secret experiments,
and it was used to test guided bombs and missiles and pilotless
aircraft and to train 509 Composite Group for the nuclear attacks on Japan.
The site eventually had a mock city build of salt from the nearby salt
flats and many other life-size targets. By the end of the war the base
had 19,500 civilian and military employees and 668 buildings.
References
Craven and Cates (1955; accessed 2014-3-8)
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