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The "Enola Gay" and "Bocks Car" B-29s flew from Wendover to the advanced base on Tinian Island in the Pacific for their missions. Wendover played a pivotal role in winning the war against Japan by training the crews that carried the Atomic Bombs to their targets.
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Construction at the base continued for most of the war, and by May 1945 the base consisted of 668 buildings, including a 300-bed hospital, gymnasium, swimming pool, library, chapel, cafeteria, bowling alley, two movie theaters, and 361 housing units for married officers and civilians. Machine gun ranges allowed gunners to either fire at moving targets from stationary gun emplacements or fire at stationary targets from three machine guns mounted on a railroad car moving along a section of track at up to 40 miles per hour (Wendover's famous "Tokyo Trolley").īy late 1943 there were approximately 2,000 civilian employees and 17,500 military personnel at Wendover. Many of the targets were even electrically illuminated for night practice. This made a fine practice target for the many bomber crews, as did the life-sized enemy battleships and other targets elsewhere on the range. The new base was supplied and serviced by the Ogden Air Depot at Hill Field.Ī mock enemy city was constructed near the mountains on the base using salt from the nearby Bonneville Salt Flats. On the Army Air Force activated Wendover Air Base and also assigned the research and development of guided missiles, pilotless aircraft, and remotely-controlled bombs to the site. Heavy bomber crews from all over the country converged on the burgeoning airfield for training before being assigned to overseas bases.
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A power system with its own generating plant was also under construction, as was a railroad spur and water and sewer systems.įor much of the war Wendover was the Army Air Forces' only bombing and gunnery range.
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There were also three ammunition igloos and four powder magazines. In 1941 the field sported four 63-man barracks, a 250-man mess hall, officers' quarters, an administration building, a telephone exchange, two ordnance warehouses, a bombsight storage building, and dispensary. In the summer a Bombing and Gunnery Range Detachment was activated as a sub-post of Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City. That spring the War Department allotted $1 million for grading, drainage, paving, and night lighting projects at Wendover. President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the expansion of the Wendover range in February 1941, increasing its size by 262,200 acres. Construction of the bombing range began on. On an agreement was reached on the 1,560,000 acre site as work commenced on the required personnel facilities at Wendover. (Text & table adapted from USAF Fact Sheet) Wendover Air Force Base Enola Gay Hanger.