April 1942


August 1942

Late 1942



Circa 1943

First Fighter 1943

Justin Taylan 2003

Location
Located north of Joyce Bay. Located three miles from the town of Port Moresby. Near the village of Kila Kila.

Construction
Port Moresby's first civilian airfield, a single runway built in 1933 by the Australian administration.

American Usage
Occupied by the Americans and expanded into an airfield for fighters, light bombers and service aircraft. A large hill at on the approach to the field limited its usefulness. The runway was 5,000' x 100' surfaced with black loam with marston matting (as of October 8, 1943). A dispersal area with revetments and taxiways were located on the northern side of the runway. Several buildings were located at the center of the runway.

Units Based at Kila Kila
3rd BG, 8th BS (A-24s, A-20) Charters Towers early April 1942
3rd BG, 89th BS (A-20) Charters Towers
49th FG, 8th FS (P-40)
8th FG, 80th FS (P-39) Milne Bay April - October 1943
347th FG, 67th FS (P-39) New Caledonia 5 30, 43 -  6 28 43 Milne Bay

Edward Rogers adds:
"The 8th BS: one history has them setting up at Koki Quarters late on April 6. They were supposed to fly a mission to Lae on April 6 but a Japanese raid against PM interrupted their plans and it had to be delayed until April 7. All subsequent A-24 operations (April 7 - end of battle of Coral Sea) were based at 3 Mile. A-24s were sent back and forth between 7-Mile and 3-Mile depending on repairs, overhauls as well as transit flights from Charters Towers."

Today
Disused since the war, the airfield is now part of the Kila Police Barracks, a golf course and a technical school. Some of the wartime revetments remain on the police property and portions of the wartime taxiways and runway are visible.

References
Thanks to John Douglas, Michael Claringbould and Edward Rogers for additional information.

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