Vunakanau Airfield was an
aerodrome located near
Vunakanau Vunakanau is situated on a plateau just outside Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. Vunakanau Airfield was used in 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 1 ...
,
East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea. The airfield was constructed as a
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
aerodrome and consisted of an unpaved single runway during
World War II. The airfield was captured during the
battle of Rabaul in 1942 by the
Imperial Japanese and was extensively modified and expanded. Vunakanau was later neutralized by Allied air bombing from 1944.
The airfield was utilised as an emergency landing strip for Rabaul (former airport) until 1983, however it was no longer needed when the new
Rabaul Airport
Rabaul Airport, also called Tokua Airport, is an airport serving Kokopo and Rabaul, the current and former capitals of East New Britain Province on New Britain island in Papua New Guinea.
Before the 1994 volcanic eruption destroyed the town of ...
was built at Tokua. The runways are now overgrown.
Allied Units based at Vunakanau Airfield
*No. 24 Squadron RAAF,
CAC Wirraway and
Lockheed Hudson
Japanese Units based at Vunakanau Airfield
*
4th Kōkūtai (4th "
Air Group",
G4M1 ''Rikko'')
*Misawa Kōkūtai (G4M1)
*705 Kōkūtai (G4M1)
*702 Kōkūtai (G4M1)
*751 Kōkūtai (G4M1)
*
Tainan Kōkūtai (
A6M Zero)
*251 Kōkūtai (A6M Zero &
J1N1 Gekkou)
*
1st Sentai (
Ki-43 Oscar)
*
11th Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar)
*13th Sentai (
Ki-45 Nick)
*68th Sentai (
Ki-61 Tony)
*78th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony)
References
*
*
External links
*http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/vunakanau/index.html
Transport in Papua New Guinea
Airports in Papua New Guinea
East New Britain Province
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