Location
Located
at Plaine Des Gaiacs 300 km north-west of Nouméa, just before the village of Pouembout. Also known as De Gaiacs. Named for the Gaiac tree that grow in the area.
Construction
Early in the war, Free French we in control of the field. The
airstrip was expanded into two massive sealed runways. Exapanded
by by the US Army, it was mainly used as staging and training
base for aircraft bound for Australia or north to the New
Hebridies (Vanuatu) combat zones.
Colonel Saunders 11th BG, 98th BS
set their B-17E's down on Plaines des Gaiacs on 21 July, they
found a red dust strip hacked out of a swamp. High in iron oxide,
this dust, sifting through the filters, honed out the cylinders,
so that shortly the B-17's were fortunate to fly 6 hours with
a full load of oil. Additional complications were lack of service
and maintenance personnel.
Units Based at Plaines Des Gaiacs
11th BG 98th BS (B-17s) Hickam July 21 - Aug 11, 1942 to Espiritu Santo
42nd BG
69th BS (B-25s) Guadalcanal Oct 20 - Nov 10, 1943 Russells
Today
Disused since the war. Overgrown, the runways
are still visible and many small traces of the American occupation
remain, such as fuel drums, metal, etc.
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