The Bonis Peninsula is a narrow peninsula located on Bougainville Island,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, at the north of the island. The

Buka Passage Buka Passage is a narrow strait that separates Buka Island from the northern part of Bougainville Island, within the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of northeastern Papua New Guinea. History A number of shipwrecks are located in the passage. T ...

separates the peninsula from

Buka Island Buka Island is the second-largest island in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is in Buka Rural LLG of North Bougainville District, with the Autonomous Region's and district's capital city of Buka on th ...

History

20th century

In the first half of the 20th century, the peninsula had an established

coconut palm The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or t ...

plantation to harvest

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...

. During the Second World War, the peninsula was occupied by forces of

Imperial Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

. In 1943, the Imperial Japanese Navy had Bonis Airfield constructed to serve as an auxiliary landing strip for Buka Airfield. The airfields' proximity to one another allowed for a shared anti-aircraft defense. Though the peninsula was hit by Allied bombing runs and strafing attempts during the period of 1943–1944, it remained occupied by Japanese forces until September, 1945 and the cessation of hostilities.

References

Peninsulas of Papua New Guinea {{PapuaNewGuinea-geo-stub