It was overrun by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of the Philippines (1942), it was struck in an air raid at same time as the attack on Clark Field on 8 December 1941.

Within 30 minutes radar at Iba Field, Luzon plotted a formation of airplanes 75 miles (120 km) offshore, heading for Corregidor Island.

By 1130 hours, the fighters sent into the air earlier landed for refueling, andradar disclosed another flight of Japanese aircraft 70 miles (112 km) West of Lingayen Gulf, headed south.

The P-40s sent on patrol of the South China Sea returned to Iba with fuel running low at the beginning of a Japanese attack on the airfield.

The P-40s failed to prevent bombing but did manage to contest the low-level strafing of the sort which proved so destructive at Clark Field soon after.