Lakunai Airfield, later known as Rabaul Airport; was an

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

located near Rabaul,

East New Britain East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely de ...

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 ...

. It was located at the foot of

Tavurvur Tavurvur is an active stratovolcano near Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature. An eruption of the volcano largely destroyed the nearby ...

volcano, near Matupit Island. The airport was destroyed by the 1994 eruption that destroyed the town of Rabaul and subsequently a new airport was built and opened at Tokua, on the opposite side of the Rabaul caldera. The former airport was located at .

World War II

The airfield was constructed by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

as an emergency landing strip for Vunakanau Airfield and consisted of an unpaved 4,700 foot single runway during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The airfield was captured during the battle of Rabaul in 1942 by the

Imperial Japanese 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 ...

and was extensively modified and expanded. Lakunai was later neutralized by Allied air bombing from 1944.

Allied Units based at Lakunai Airfield

* No. 8 Squadron RAAF,

Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Blenheim light bomber. At le ...

(1945)

Japanese Units based at Lakunai Airfield

* Chitose Kōkūtai ( A5M Claude) *4th

Kōkūtai A ''Kōkūtai'' () was a term used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) to designate a military aviation unit, similar to the Air Groups in other air arms and services of the time. (''Group'' in the British Royal Air Force, ''Grupp ...

(A5M Claude &

A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was ...

) - February 10, 1942 * Tainan Kōkūtai (A6M Zero) *6th Kōkūtai (A6M Zero) *501st Kōkūtai ( D4Y Judy) *11th Sentai (

Ki-43 Oscar The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon", "Army Type 1 Fighter" ) is a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Oscar", but it was o ...

) *1st Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar) *68th Sentai ( Ki-61 Tony) *78th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony) *81st Sentai ( Ki-46 Dinah and Ki-21 Sally)

Post-War and Subsequent Destruction

After World War II, it was used as a civilian airport until 1994, when a Volcanic eruption occurred at

volcano at which the airport was located. The airport was covered in ash and destroyed, this led to a new airport being built for Rabaul.

Notes

References

* *

External links

*http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/lakunai/index.html
LAKUNAI AIRPORT RABAUL
{{authority control Transport in Papua New Guinea Defunct airports in Papua New Guinea Airports in Papua New Guinea East New Britain Province