Nielson Field becomes Ayala Triangle, busy streets in Makati
Nielson Field / Photo from Wikipedia
Nielson Field was established in 1937. Its origins were civilian and commercial. It did not begin as a military airfield. The field was named after Laurie Reuben Nielson, who was a businessman in Manila. He was born in New Zealand and had an American wife. His goal was to create an aviation training school in Manila.
Mr. Nielson was able to lease a significant amount of land from the Ayala Hacienda in Makati. The hacienda was owned by the Zobel de Ayala family, who were very wealthy and powerful in the Philippines. The land was being used to grow rice. The site for Nielson Field was relatively close to Nichols Field.
It only took six months to build the 42-hectare facility. The project required 80,000 gallons of asphalt and 1,000 workers to quickly build the airport.
The airport had two runways and an impressive control tower. Shortly after the construction in 1937, the airport was the largest and best equipped in Asia. At that time, there was a substantial demand for international aviation trade and transport.
The newly constructed flight school at the airfield was called the American Far East School of Aviation. There were two commercial airlines based at Nielson. One was called the Iloilo-Negros Express, and the second airline was the Philippine Air Taxi Company. This airline was the predecessor to Philippine Airlines (PAL).
With continued Japanese aggression in Asia and Southeast Asia in the early 1940s, Mr. Nielson’s commercial venture was transformed and transferred in October 1941 to the Far East Air Force (FEAF), which was subordinate to the United States Armed Forces of the Far East (USAFFE).
General Douglas MacArthur was the Commanding Officer of USAFFE. Nielson Field became the headquarters for FEAF. Major General Lewis Brereton, the newly designated commander of FEAF, arrived at Nielson Field on November 7, 1941.
Nielson Field was bombed by the Japanese on Dec. 10, 1941. The field incurred significant damage. Shortly, Mr. Nielson was captured by the Japanese and sent to the University of Santo Tomas (Santo Tomas Internment Camp, STIC).
The STIC was the detention camp for American civilians during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. When the Japanese discovered that Mr. Nielson was a British subject and not an American civilian, he was transferred to Hong Kong. Unfortunately, he was never seen again.
Nielson Field no longer exists today. The former runways of the airfield are part of a bustling commercial and business section of Metro Manila called the Ayala Triangle of Makati.
Sections of the old runways are now parts of busy urban streets called Ayala Avenue and Roxas Boulevard.
The Nielson Air Traffic Control Tower is still standing today. It is the only pre-World War II structure still standing in Makati. The Nielson control tower has been used for different purposes over the years, including a museum and a restaurant.
Dennis Edward Flake is the author of three books on Philippine-American history. He is a Public Historian and a former park ranger in interpretation for the National Park Service at the Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg, PA. He can be contacted at: flakedennis@gmail.com
