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Location
Located at the tip of Los Negros Island on the prewar Mokerang
Plantation.
Construction
This airstrip was constructed
by the Japanese after completing Lorengau Airfield.
American Expansion
Found to be unsuitable for use by American
forces, a more modern coral-surfaced runway 8,000'
x 100' was built, including a storage area for 30,000
barrels
of fuel at Mokerang.
Units Based at Mokerang
13th Air Force (13th Air Task Force)
307th BG
HQ Munda / Guadalcanal on April 29 - Aug 25, 44 Wakde
307th BG, 424th BS (B-24s) Munda / Guad May 13 - Aug 22, 44 Wakde
307th BG, 370th BS (B-24s) Munda / Guad May 13 - Aug 22, 44 Wakde
307th BG, 371th BS (B-24s) Munda / Guad May 13 - Aug 22, 44 Wakde
307th BG, 372th BS (B-24s) Munda / Guad May 13 - Aug 22, 44 Wakde
13th Bomber Command HQ Guadalcanal June 1 - Sept 13, 44 Hollandia
Post-War Abandonment
After the war the vast
Navy base was dismantled and lots of US equipment was destroyed
or
abandoned.
Landing
barges were run aground or sunk. Villagers remember how bulldozers
were pointed towards the ocean an driven into the water
until
they stalled. Extensive salvage and scrap operations existed
on Manus for years after the war.
Wartime Buried Equipment
There are still stories about
about pits full of wartime cargo buried on people's land,
but their
locations
are now well guarded secrets.
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Last Updated
October 1, 2009
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