Karachi Airfield
| Type | 161 Air Base | |
| Historical Name of Location | Karachi, Sindh, India | |
| Coordinates | 24.906725000, 67.160833000 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseIn 1932, J. R. D. Tata flew a de Havilland Puss Moth monoplane aircraft from Bombay to Karachi with bags of mail, landing at the Drigh Road airstrip. In less than a decade, Karachi Airfield in British India (now Pakistan) would grow to become a transport hub of the region. Personnel and equipment of the United States Army Air Forces littered the entire facility through the during of the war. Extensive aircraft assembly plants were built to put together crated combat aircraft destined to be deployed further east against the Japanese. The USAAF's Air Transport Command also used Karachi Airfield as a staging point for supply runs to eastern India and China. After the war, Karachi Airfield was converted to civilian use. Today it is known as the Jinnah International Airport, which serves as the headquarters of the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Sep 2015
Karachi Airfield Interactive Map
Photographs
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Karachi Airfield Timeline
| 15 Oct 1932 | Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata landed at the Drigh Road airstrip in Karachi, India (now Pakistan) in a de Havilland Puss Moth monoplane aircraft, carrying bags of mail from Bombay, India. This was the first flight in India. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
30 Sep 2019 02:52:00 PM
Does anyone have anymore info on the base, my grandad was there just before the war, I have photos doing a littlefamily research his name was Thomas Mackenzie
9 Sep 2021 07:44:15 AM
My father, Wing Commander F C Rowland was at Drigh Road from 31 MAR 1940 to 6 JAN 1942 and I am trying to find out what he did there please? Can anybody help??
17 Oct 2021 04:21:31 AM
My father Sgt James D Thomson was posted from 669 squadron after the fall of Japan to Air Traffic Control at Karachi for a year until demobbed. No further info. Any photos appreciated.
8 Sep 2022 02:13:41 PM
My father served there in WW,2. Any info, anyone ???
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
| WW2-Era Place Name | Karachi, Sindh, India |
| Lat/Long | 24.9067, 67.1608 |
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17 Feb 2018 03:19:14 PM
When I lived a few miles away, there was a military airfield named PAF Drigh Road where PAF Base Faisal is now. The photos in this article don't tell me if it is the same airfield as in WWII. From the name used in this article, Jinnah International, it doesn't seem like it. The international airport in Karachi was further out of town along Drigh Road. It seems that T.E. Lawrence, while serving in the RAF as an aircraftman named Shaw, also served in Karachi, but according to this article, Drigh didn't operate until 1932 and Shaw served in Karachi in 1927 so I still wonder.