Nadzab Village is in the
Markham Valley
The Markham Valley is a geographical area in Papua New Guinea. The name "Markham" commemorates Sir Clements Markham, Secretary of the British Royal Geographical Society - Captain John Moresby of the Royal Navy named the Markham River after Sir Cl ...
,
Morobe Province
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...
,
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 ...
on the
Highlands Highway
The Highlands Highway, sometimes known as the Okuk Highway, is the main land highway in Papua New Guinea. It connects several major cities and is vital for the movement of people and goods between the populous Highlands region and the coast.
F ...
. Administratively, it is located in Gabsongkeg ward of
Wampar Rural LLG.
The
Nadzab Airport is located East of Nadzab Village and was the site of the only
Allied paratrooper assault in
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
on 5 September 1943.
Location
Nadzab is located on the Erap River, North of the
Markham River
The Markham River is a river in eastern Papua New Guinea. It originates in the Finisterre Range and flows for to empty into the Huon Gulf at Lae.
The river was named in 1873 by Captain John Moresby, R.N., in honour of Sir Clements Markham, then ...
and 42 km North West of
Lae
Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...
. The settlements of Gabmatsung/Gabmatzung and Gabsonkek are located on the East side of the airport.
Grasslands
The present distribution of grasslands in New Guinea is a product of forest clearance and/or burning by man. Lane-Poole
(1925),
on surveying the forest of the lower Markham Valley near Yalu, hypothesised that;
:''"At one time forest of this type stretched all the way along the coast between the mountains inland and the sea, and all along the vast valleys of the Markham and Ramu Rivers. Today, artificially formed grasslands have taken the place of the forest on the best of the land, and, in the less fertile areas, a secondary weed growth has established itself"''
History
German Colonial
In about 1910 the Gabmatsung/Gabmazung
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
mission station
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
was established at Nadzab.
and established an airfield for use by small planes until the outbreak of the Pacific War when it became overgrown with dense kunai grass.
![Nadzabsign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Nadzabsign.jpg)
In the 1919 the ''Melbourne Argus'' newspaper ran this classified advertisement;
:''The following items, collected by on Official with the Aid of An Armed Force from Gabmatsung (and other districts) -carved figures, stone clubs, carved plates, bows and arrows, spears, native drum, clubs, horns, modlooms, native pillows, head dresses, bags, shells ornaments and butterflies. JW Styles and Son, Glenhuntly Rd,
Caufield
Caufield is an Irish surname, a variation to the name Caulfield. Notable people with the surname include:
* Cole Caufield (born 2001), American ice hockey player
* Frank J. Caufield (born 1939), American businessman
*James Caufield, American phot ...
''
WW2
Between April 1943 and July 1943, the Allied Geographical Section of
South West Pacific Area (command)
South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the D ...
conducted reconnaissance after the
Japanese invasion. The Terrain Handbook states at page 18;
:''"Nazdab is located twenty-seven miles NW of Lae by road 900 yds by an indefinite width. Covered with
Kunai
A is a Japanese tool thought to be originally derived from the masonry trowel. The two widely recognized variations of the kunai are short kunai (小苦無 shō-''kunai'') and the big ''kunai'' (大苦無 ''dai-kunai''). Although a basic tool, ...
grass. Good dispursal area. Emergency landing ground for heavy freight planes. Extension to 2000 yds thought possible"''.
The
Landing at Nadzab
The Landing at Nadzab was an airborne landing on 5 September 1943 during the New Guinea campaign of World War II in conjunction with the landing at Lae. The Nadzab action began with a parachute drop at Lae Nadzab Airport, combined with an ov ...
was the first parachute jump for the
503rd Parachute Regiment on 5 September 1943. In conjunction with the
Amphibious Landing
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...
East of
Malahang, it was to be the start of the liberation of Lae from Japanese Occupation.
On 8 September 1943, ''MACARTHUR'S communique'' states;
:''more than 60,000 rounds of ammunition, silencing artillery positions and destroying installations at Gabsonkek (21 miles north-west of Lae), Munum (six miles east of Gabsonkek). Yalu, Nara kapor (14 miles North west of Lae), and Labu Island (60 miles south-west of Lae)''
After the landing, the 503rd Headquarters Company established themselves at the Gabonkek village and it was at this time that the ''descending wildcat'' logo became their official insignia, until the
Battle of Philippines when the insignia was changed to the ''Rock Patch''.
On 19 September 1943 the Gabmatsung Lutheran Mission was converted into the 2/4th Australian Field Ambulance main dressing station for the
7th Australian Division
Cemetery
During WW2, the United States Army established a cemetery used for the duration of the war. All burials were later exhumed and transported to the United States or Manila American Cemetery.
Aerial spraying
In 1992 the Veterans' Review Board (Australia) heard evidence that chemical
DDT
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...
aerial spraying and
Pyrethrum bombs may have been used in and around Nadzab in November 1944. Number 9
Local Air Supply Unit located at Lae, carried out test air-spraying in an unspecified location in March 1945. The United States Army Air Service units at Nadzab carried out DDT air-spraying experiments locally up to at least November 1944, until about April 1945.
References
Notes
External links
*
*
{{Lae , state=autocollapse
Populated places in Morobe Province