Koli Airfield (also known as Bomber 3 Field) is a former
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
airfield on
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...
,
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...
in the
South Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
, located near
Koli Point, eight miles east of
Henderson Field, close to the Metapona River to the east and the Naumbu River to the west. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state.
History
This airfield was built for
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models d ...
heavy bomber operations, primarily by the
Thirteenth Air Force
The Thirteenth Air Force (Air Forces Pacific) (13 AF) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It was last headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stat ...
. The single strip ran approximately NE to SW (parallel to
Carney Airfield) and had several taxiways off both sides. Surfaced by bitumen with metal,
Marsden Matting
Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the ...
-like material for heavy aircraft and was completed in the middle of 1943.
Units assigned were:
*
42d Bombardment Group, 6 June-20 October 1943
*
307th Bombardment Group, February 1943-28 January 1944
Disused since the war. Bomber 3 strip was used for drying
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 ...
at the nearby plantation, and parts of the airfield are used as a road.
See also
*
Carney Airfield
*
Kukum Field
Kukum Field also known as Fighter 2 Airfield is a former World War II airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands.
World War II
From the beginning of the Guadalcanal Campaign it was planned that the area would be developed into a major air base. ...
*
USAAF in the South 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
{{USAAF 13th Air Force World War II
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II