Location
Located at Bonis on the northern tip of Bougainville, south of Buka Passage. Prewar, this location was the Bonis plantation, managed by Alf Long.

Construction
Occupied by Japanese in March 1942. During 1943, they constructed an airfield at this location. By October 22, 1943 the runway was 3,300' x 200 with a revetment area on the south and clearings at both ends of the runway.

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 regularly base airplanes at either field, they meticulously 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 Huey 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

Contribute Information
Do you have photos or additional information to add?

Last Updated
October 28, 2009