Location
Located at Bonis on the northern tip of Bougainville.
Construction
Built on the pre-war Bonis plantation, managed by Alf Long.
Occpuied by Japanese in
March 1942 In
mid-1943, a single runway 3,300' x 200, with a ravetment area on the south side was constructed by the Japanese.
Allied Missions
Against Bonis
November 1, 1943 - January 4, 1944
Tom Blackburn in VF-17
The Jolly Rogers recalls:
"Buka and Bonis remained serious threats to the Torokina beachhead throughout
early November 1943. Although the Japanese did not reguarly base airplanes at
either field, they miticulously patched runway damage after each bombing raid,
and maintained heavy anti-aircraft defenses around both runways. The danger lay
in the readiness of the runways, through which they could stage raids against
the beachhead, and damaged aircraft had a safe haven 165 miles south of Rabaul."
Today
Disused since the war, the airstrip is overgrown. In the mid-1970's the
airfield had wreckage of some aircraft, a Japanese Navy aerial
torpedo in dispersal area. Today there is little trace of the airfield, except
from the air."
Charles Darby visited in the early 1970s:
"Regarding Bonis, all the wreckage had been gathered together and piled into a small heap on what the plantation manager told me was the old airstrip site. I found serial numbers on the F6F [66021] and SBD [ can't remember Bu No] parts but not on the TBF or F4U parts, and never knew exactly where the parts had been collected from. The parts really were shredded, either by impact or having been cut up for scrap, and in most cases were identifiable only by part numbers."
Josh
McDade surveyed from the air in December 1999:
"The photos were taken from a Heuy helicopter. I daunt remember from what
height. It was probably between 1,000 and 5,000'. We were low because I asked
to take photos of it and it was a short time until we landed at Buka.
Indeed this bombed airfield was not far at all from the Buka passage. The distance
from the passage was not large, probably under 5 kilometers. There appeared to
be two separate strips. I definitely remember it being on the NE side of the
mainland. We were flying from Loloho to Buka.
Justin Taylan visited in September 2003:
"Little trace of any wartime wrecks here, or other history. I was
not able to find anyone to walk the old airfield area, nor did anyone seem to
know about it."
Douglas
SBD-5 Dauntless
Wreckage noted in early 1970s
F6F Hellcat Bureau Number 66021
Pilot Keener MIA November 1, 1943
F4U-1 Corsair
Wreckage only, observed by Darby in 1970s
TBF Avenger
Wreckage only, observed by Darby in 1970s
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