Location
Located about 3 miles north of Finschafen.

Construction
This strip was built prior to the war, probably by the Lutheran missionaries. Single strip 600m long.

Wartime History
In middle 1942 single runway was 800 x 75 x 20 yards with poor approaches. Facilities included housing, food & water, medical supplies possibly at mission.

Wartime History
It is unclear if the Japanese ever used this strip during the war. At the time of the Australian invasion in late September 1943, the official history seems to indicate that it was not in use at that time, [no aircraft or facilities recorded] but it may have had ELS equivalent status. The same WWII maps do not show any other airfields at Finschafen, as the other airfield was built by the Americans.

John Douglas adds:
"The strip was put in by the Missionaries to service their facilities in that area, They had about 80 Missionaries there at about early war time, several missions, schools, a port and a large radio station in the town. I think they had at least one Junkers W34 [probably more], that survived the war as a wreck and disappeared out of Lae about 10 years ago. This plane I think is different to the Ex Missionary W34 that is restored in Western Australia. There's a great story about a German Mission Pilot who stole a plane in the late 1930s ex Finschafen, flew it to Dutch New Guinea and eventually made his way to Germany and joined the Luftwaffe."

References
Notes about New Guinea airfields, recorded circa May - July, 1942 by Oliver C. Doan via Jean Doan research Edward Rogers

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Last Updated
October 1, 2009