Revealed: Iowa’s secret WWII bomber base that helped defeat Hitler

Iowa’s Deadly Wartime Airfields and Their 150 Casualties

Iowa turned into a wartime flight school almost overnight after Pearl Harbor.

By mid-1942, cornfields gave way to airstrips as three major Army Air Force bases sprang up across the state.

Sioux City alone housed 6,000 men and 100 massive bombers, while Fort Des Moines trained over 72,000 women, including the first Black female officers. The skies weren’t safe, though.

More than 150 Iowa-based airmen died in crashes without ever seeing combat, part of 15,000 training deaths nationwide. Even Hollywood star James Stewart commanded pilots here before heading overseas.

These historic airfields still hold stories of sacrifice worth discovering today.

Iowa Scrambled to Train Pilots After Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor pushed Iowa into the spotlight as a perfect place to train pilots. Army Air Forces officials checked out Iowa spots just weeks after the attack.

They liked the flat land, open spaces, and central location. By January 1942, military planners met with Iowa officials to map out new airfields.

Construction teams arrived with bulldozers by early spring and worked around the clock. Locals watched as cornfields turned into military bases within weeks.

Sioux City Transformed from Farmland to Flight Training Hub

Workers started building Sioux City Army Air Base in early 1942, finishing the main parts by July 5. The base went up so fast that many locals couldn’t believe their eyes.

The military chose this northwest Iowa spot to train crews for the big B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers. These four-engine planes needed lots of space.

The base quickly filled with young men from across America, most who had never seen Iowa before.

Women Made History at Fort Des Moines

Fort Des Moines opened as America’s first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps training center in 1942. The first class of 440 female officer candidates arrived that July, including 40 Black women.

The military trained women officers for the first time, and trained Black and white women together for the first time. The women learned military customs, physical training, and special skills.

By war’s end, 72,141 women went through training at Fort Des Moines.

The Skies Over Iowa Got Very Crowded

By mid-1943, Sioux City Army Air Base buzzed with over 6,000 men training there. The base held up to 100 bombers at once, with training flights taking off and landing all day.

Farmers got used to seeing B-17s and B-24s flying low over their fields. Engine noise became the sound of wartime Iowa.

Small towns watched as young airmen filled local restaurants and movie theaters on weekend passes.

Crash Sites Dotted Iowa Farmland

The rush to train pilots came with a terrible cost. More than 150 airmen died in crashes across Iowa between 1942 and 1945.

Farm families often saw planes go down in their fields and ran to help survivors. Local fire departments and doctors helped before military teams arrived.

The B-17 and B-24 bombers were hard to fly, especially for young pilots with limited training. Small town newspapers often reported on these accidents.

Movie Star Jimmy Stewart Led Bomber Training

Hollywood actor James Stewart put his film career on hold to join the Army Air Forces. He spent time at Sioux City as a squadron operations officer before becoming a squadron commander.

Stewart moved up from private to colonel during the war. He flew combat missions in Europe after his time in Iowa.

Other famous people trained at Iowa bases too, including future business leaders, politicians, and sports figures.

Rosie the Riveter Recruited Iowa Farm Girls

The war pulled thousands of Iowa women into the aircraft industry. Many left their small towns to work in factories on both coasts.

By November 1943, women made up 37 percent of the aircraft industry workforce nationwide, with 486,000 women building planes. Recruiters came to Iowa towns looking for workers.

The factory pay beat farm wages, and many Iowa women sent money home to their families.

Blizzards and Tornadoes Tested Pilot Skills

Iowa weather threw everything at the training pilots. Winter brought blinding snowstorms and temperatures that froze fuel lines.

Summer brought thunderstorms, tornadoes, and humidity that affected aircraft performance. Training officers used the harsh weather to teach instrument flying skills.

Pilots learned to trust their gauges when they couldn’t see the ground.

Many pilots later said that if they could fly in Iowa’s changing conditions, they could handle anything overseas.

D-Day Created Urgent Need for More Aircrews

Training sped up as 1944 brought the D-Day invasion. Iowa bases ran 24 hours a day to push out trained crews.

The skies over the state filled with practice formations as bomber groups prepared for missions over Germany. Instructors who had flown combat missions came back to Iowa to share real-world experience with trainees.

The training schedule got shorter as the war needed more pilots and crews.

Victory Bells Signaled the End of Training

When Germany surrendered in May 1945, Iowa bases started scaling back European bomber training. Focus shifted to preparing crews for the Pacific war against Japan.

After V-J Day in August 1945, the massive training operation wound down quickly.

Pilots and crews who had been preparing for war suddenly found themselves preparing to go home instead. Training accidents dropped as flight operations decreased.

The military started the process of deciding which bases to keep and which to close.

Many Iowa communities worried about the economic impact as thousands of military personnel packed up to leave the bases that had transformed the state during wartime.

Iowa Airfields Found New Life After the War

Many Iowa training facilities stayed active after the fighting stopped. Sioux City Army Air Base became an Air National Guard base that still operates today.

Other fields turned into municipal airports serving their communities. The state’s aviation infrastructure grew from these military roots.

Memorial services honored the 150+ airmen who died during Iowa training missions. Local historical societies preserved the stories of these bases and their impact on Iowa communities.

The skills Iowa veterans brought home helped grow aviation across the state in the postwar years. Many former military pilots went on to fly for airlines, crop dusting services, and private companies throughout Iowa.

Visiting Field of Dreams Movie Site, Iowa

The Field of Dreams baseball field at 28995 Lansing Road in Dyersville is free to visit from sunrise to sunset year-round, though they suggest a $20 donation.

You can take house tours for $20 per person and grab food at The DugOut concession stand.

To learn about Iowa’s WWII aviation training history where over 150 airmen died in training accidents, drive 2.5 hours to the Iowa Aviation Museum in Greenfield for exhibits on the state’s wartime pilot preparation programs.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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