USAAF, Fort Bell 1941-1948

Kindley Air Force Base
St. David's Island, Bermuda Near St. George's, Bermuda in United States
The former AFB Kindley Field, as it appeared in 1993
St. David's Island, after the construction of the airfield. The airfield encompasses all of the Island.
Kindley Air Force Base
Coordinates	32°21′52.3″N 64°40′53.5″W / 32.364528°N 64.681528°W / 32.364528; -64.681528Coordinates: 32°21′52.3″N 64°40′53.5″W / 32.364528°N 64.681528°W / 32.364528; -64.681528
Type	Air force base
Site information
Owner	United States (1940-1995) Government of Bermuda (current)
Operator	Joint USAF and RAF (1943-1945) United States Air Force (1945-1970) United States Navy (1970-1995)
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Operational - returned to the Bermudan government for use as L.F. Wade International Airport
Site history
Built	1941-1943 (1941-1943)
In use	1943-1995 (1943-1995)
Fate	Returned to the Bermudan government for use as L.F. Wade International Airport
Battles/wars	World War II
Airfield information
Identifiers	IATA: BDA, ICAO: TXKF
Elevation	12 feet (4 m) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 12/30 9,898 feet (3,017 m) Asphalt

Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as Kindley Field.

Prior to American entry into the Second World War, the governments of the United Kingdom and the USA led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt came to an agreement exchanging a number of obsolete ex-US Naval destroyers for 99-year base rights in a number of British Empire West Indian territories. Bases were also granted in Bermuda and Newfoundland, though Britain received no loans in exchange for these. This was known as the destroyers for bases deal.

As the government of Bermuda had not been party to the agreement, the arrival of US engineers in 1941 came as rather a surprise to many in Bermuda. The US engineers began surveying the colony for the construction of an airfield that was envisioned as taking over most of the West End of the Island. Frantic protests to London by the Governor and local politicians led to those plans being revised. The US Army would build an airfield at the north of Castle Harbour. The US Navy would build a flying boat station at the West End

The airfield was intended to be a joint US Army Air Forces/Royal Air Force facility, to be used by both primarily as a staging point for trans-Atlantic flights by landplanes. When the US Army occupied the area, it created Fort Bell, with Kindley Field (named in honour of an American pilot, Field E. Kindley, who had served with the Royal Flying Corps during World War I), being the airfield within it.