Goodenough Island in the

Solomon Sea The Solomon Sea is a sea located within the Pacific Ocean. It lies between Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Many major battles were fought there during World War II. Extent The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of ...

, also known as Nidula Island, is the westernmost of the three large islands of the

D'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

in Milne Bay Province of

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 lies to the east of mainland

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 ...

and southwest of the

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

. It is roughly circular in shape, measuring with an area of and a shoreline of . From a coastal belt varying in width from in width, the island rises sharply to the summit of

Mount Vineuo Mount Vineuo, also known as Mount Oiautukekea, is a mountain on Goodenough Island, Papua New Guinea. The mountain is above sea level.precipitous islands in the world. The small outlier

Wagifa Island Wagifa Island is an island of Papua New Guinea. It is located to the south east of Goodenough Island. A small village is located on the island and aside from fishing, the people only grow limited cassava. As such the primary means of food for loca ...

lies to the south-east of the island, and is included within Goodenough's administration.

Climate and vegetation

Like much of New Guinea, the climate is tropical with high temperatures and humidity throughout the year. The northwest monsoon season lasts from December to March and brings sudden rain squalls. From May to October southeasterly winds are cooler and more gentle. Tropical cyclones are infrequent. Rainfall varies between 1,520 mm and 2,540 mm per annum. Serious droughts occur once or twice a decade. Rushing streams with waterfalls drain water from the central mountain. Rain forest cloaks the higher elevations with secondary forest, grassland and native gardens on the lower slopes and coastal plains. Soils are acidic. A rare edible citrus plant, ''

Citrus wakonai ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

'' (''

Citrus warburgiana ''Citrus warburgiana''. the kakamadu or New Guinea wild lime, grows on the south coast of the Papuan Peninsula near Alotau in Papua-New Guinea. It is a poorly known tree species. It has dark green, spherical fruits about in diameter. It is tax ...

''; locally called "kakamadu", a name shared with other citrus species), grows on Goodenough Island.

History

The D'Entrecasteaux Islands have probably been inhabited for several thousand years, the people being related to mainland Papuans. The first sighting of the archipelago by a European was by the French mariner Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux in 1792 but it remained unexplored by Europeans until 1874 when Captain

John Moresby Rear Admiral John Moresby (15 March 1830 – 12 July 1922) was a British naval officer who explored the coast of New Guinea and was the first European to discover the site of Port Moresby. Life and career Moresby was born in Allerford, Somerset, ...

, commanding HMS ''Basilisk'', landed on the westernmost island and gave it a European name after a British naval colleague, Commodore

James Graham Goodenough Commodore James Graham Goodenough (3 December 1830 – 20 August 1875) was an officer in the Royal Navy who went on to become Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station. Early life and family He was born at Stoke Hill near Guildford in Surrey, ...

. The impact of western culture after Moresby's visit and before World War II was limited to missionaries, ethnographers and traders seeking whales, pearls or gold. In 1888 William MacGregor visited the island in his role as administrator of the newly proclaimed British New Guinea. In 1891 the Methodist Church of Australia established a mission station on Dobu Island (between Ferguson and Normanby Islands) under the direction of William Bromilow. From there mission stations were established in strategic centres in the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands and the

Louisiade Archipelago The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea. It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...

. In particular, in 1898 a mission station was established in Bwaidoga, Mud Bay, Goodenough Island. By that time traders had already created a regular demand for steel tools, cloth, and twist tobacco and the Dobu mission was recruiting natives to work in gold mines and

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 copr ...

plantations. These activities, and indeed the farming and hunting activities of the traditional people, were confined to localised areas on the fringing plains of the island. The mountainous hinterland remained entirely unknown and unpopulated above 1,100 m.

World War II

On 25 August 1942, a Japanese convoy of seven motorised landing craft (MLC) with 353 marines of 5th Sasebo Special Naval Landing Force stopped to rest at the south end of Goodenough Island. They were led by Commander Tsukioka and were bound for

Taupota Taupota is an Oceanic language of the Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. It appears to be a dialect chain A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring ...

and participation in the

Battle of Milne Bay The Battle of Milne Bay (25 August – 7 September 1942), also known as Operation RE or the Battle of Rabi (ラビの戦い) by the Japanese, was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Japanese marines, known as ''Kaigun Tokub ...

. They became stranded when their MLCs were destroyed by No. 75 Squadron RAAF Kittyhawks. On 22 October 1942 the Australian warships HMAS ''Stuart'' and HMAS ''Arunta'' disembarked 640 soldiers consisting of the Australian 2/12th Battalion, of the 18th Brigade from Milne Bay. They landed on both sides of the island's southern tip during the night. Intense fighting occurred during 23 October and during the night a successful rescue mission evacuated about 250 Japanese soldiers by submarine to

Fergusson Island Fergusson Island is the largest island of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, in Papua New Guinea. It has an area of , and mostly consists of mountainous regions, covered by rain forests. There are three large volcanoes on the island. Fergusson Island ...

, where they were taken by cruiser to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

. The remaining Japanese defenders were mopped up and the island declared secured by 27 October. The occupation force remained on the island until 28 December 1942. During that time they used deception and camouflage to make the Japanese believe that a brigade sized force was occupying the island. They fabricated a 'ghost force' of dummy structures, including a hospital, anti-aircraft guns constructed of logs pointed at the sky, and barricades of jungle vines which looked like barbed wire. They also lit fires to appear as cooking fires for large numbers of soldiers, and sent messages consistent with what a brigade of soldiers would be expected to send. During that time an American airfield engineer reported that a temporary airfield could be constructed for emergency use on the site of an existing mission airstrip on the northeastern plain near Vivigani. He also recommended that a permanent airstrip be constructed. The Fifth Air Force directed the

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

's No. 9 Group to attack enemy bases in

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

. To facilitate this, General Headquarters Operations Instructions No.31, dated 11 March 1943, set out that Goodenough Island, which was garrisoned by an Australian infantry battalion group with attached service groups and two Radar stations, was to be reinforced and prepared as an air force operating base with two landing strips, initially suitable for fighters, but with one being upgraded to handle heavy bombers. The fighter strip was available on 15 June. By the end of July, there were 3,614 RAAF personnel on the island. The bomber strip was completed on 20 October, although it is recorded that the first offensive use of the airfield was on 17 May by Beauforts of No. 100 Squadron RAAF. As a part of

Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the ...

, Vivigani Airfield became an important staging point for Australian and American operations in the

South West Pacific Area 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 ...

, an objective of which was to attack Rabaul in New Britain, the stronghold of

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 ...

forces.

RAAF Units active on Goodenough Island

RAAF logistics units active on Goodenough Island

Culture

The four languages of Goodenough ( Bwaidoka, Iduna, Diodio, and Buduna or Wataluma) belong to the Milne Bay Family of Austronesian languages. The dominant language, Bwaidoka, was adopted as a lingua franca by the Wesleyan (Methodist) Mission at the turn of the century. At the 2000 census the population was 20,814. List of villages working clockwise around Goodenough Island starting at Vivigani Airfield on the northeast coastal plain, as shown in Google Earth. * Vivigani (this is not an actual village per se, although there are several in the vicinity of the airstrip) * Bolubolu (the administrative centre) * Mataita *Faiava * Wailagi (United Church mission station and 1–6 Elementary School) * Wagifa * Kilia * Lauwela * Auwale * Debenefue * Diodio * Tatala * Waibula * Ufaufa * Wataluma Mission and Plantation * Ulutuya Mission

Protected area

The Oya Madawa Wildlife Management Area in the centre of the island has an area of . It provides a critical landscape function with a relatively high number of endemic, endangered and vulnerable species. The small

black dorcopsis The black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby (''Dorcopsis atrata'') is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is endemic to an island at the eastern end of New Guinea where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. ...

(''Dorcopsis atrata''), the only

wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized Macropodidae, macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same Taxonomy (biology), taxon ...

known to be endemic to a Pacific island, is endangered and needs careful management. Another species, the

agile wallaby The agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis''), also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, beco ...

(''Macropus agilis''), was abundant but cannot be found today.

References

External links

* * *Jenness M.A. and Rev. A. Ballantyne. (1920) ''The Northern D'Entrecasteaux'', Oxford University Press.
Pacific Wrecks website
{{Authority control D'Entrecasteaux Islands Islands of Milne Bay Province Volcanoes of Papua New Guinea Goodenough family