Kornasoren (Noemfoor) Airport is a civil airport in
Noemfoor,
Schouten Islands
The Schouten Islands ( id, Kepulauan Biak, also Biak Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. . Commercial service is provided by
Susi Air
PT ASI Pudjiastuti Aviation, operating as Susi Air, is a scheduled and charter airline based in Pangandaran, West Java, Indonesia. Sixty percent of the airline's operation serves commercial regular routes and pioneer routes while the rest is ch ...
to
Manokwari
Manokwari is a coastal town and the capital of the Indonesian province of West Papua. It is one of only seven provincial capitals of Indonesia without a city status. It is also the administrative seat of Manokwari Regency. However, under pro ...
and
Biak
Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...
from this Airport.
History
The airfield was one of three constructed by the Japanese during their occupation of the island in 1943/1944. The US Army
158th Regimental Combat Team landed on the beach and encountered stiff resistance. The
503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment parachuted on Kamiri Airifled on 3 July 1944. The Japanese garrison was largely defeated after a suicidal counter-attack by the Japanese on 5 July. The island was finally secured after a month of hard fighting on 31 August 1944.
The three airfields on Nomefoor (Kamiri, Namber and Yebrurro) were used by the American forces after liberating the island. All three were first repaired and upgraded by the
Seabee
United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...
s of the 95th U.S. Naval Construction Battalion.
Kamiri () is located along the northwest shoreline of the island and was used by the
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
(RAAF) until July 1945 when it was abandoned. It has been disused since the end of the war.
Namber () is located along the southwest shoreline and was improved and used by American forces, then also abandoned after the end of the war.
Yebrurro Airfield, also used by the Americans, remained in service until the end of the war. It is still in use today as Kornasoren Airport.
Allied units stationed on Noemfoor
*
309th Bombardment Wing (28 July-9 November 1944)
*
417th Bombardment Group (9 September-6 December 1944)
*
58th Fighter Group (30 August 1944 – 3 April 1944)
*
348th Fighter Group
The 108th Operations Group is a unit of the 108th Wing (108 WG) of the New Jersey Air National Guard, one of the many units stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. If activated to federal service with the U.S. Air Force, the ...
(26 August 1944 – 16 November 1944)
*
RAAF 75 Squadron (
P-40
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...
) 22 July 1944
*
RAAF 76 Squadron (P-40) July 1944
*
RAAF 80 Squadron (P-40) November 1944
*
RAAF 22 Squadron (
A-20 A20, A 20, A.20 or A-20 may refer to:
Vehicles
* A-20 Havoc, a U.S.-designed attack aircraft used in World War II
* A20 heavy tank, a British tank which did not enter production but of which a downsized version became the A22 Churchill tank
* A-20 ...
) August 1944
*
RAAF 30 Squadron (
Beaufighter
The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...
) September 1944
*
RAAF 37 Squadron (
Loadstar) August 1944
Airlines and destinations
See also
*
USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
References
* Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
www.pacificwrecks.com
External links
Biak Numfor Regency
Airports in Papua (province)
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II
World War II sites in Indonesia
{{Indonesia-airport-stub