Location
Located on Ballale Island. Also known as Ballalae, Ballalai or Ballale (American spelling).

Construction
Code named RDX by the Japanese. The Japanese Navy 18th Construction Battalion arrived on the island on November 3, 1942 to begin building an airstrip with a contingent of 370 people, assisted by locals and later British POWs.

They built a single runway running the length of the island, surfaced with crushed coral running roughly north-east to south-west, completed in January 1943. Landing matt (steel planks) were used on taxiways, and entaigo (revetments) for fighters and bombers.

The first aircraft landing at the strip, was a G3M2 Nell on January 9, 1943 piloted by Iwasaki. The airfield was developed into a forward airbase for both fighters and bombers, used by the Japanese Navy, Army and Army Air Force.

(IJN) Japanese Naval Units Based at Ballale
2nd Carrier Division (Vice-Admiral Kakuji Kakuda) HQ in Rabaul, staging base for Guadalcanal attacks on Ballale
Zuiho Sentouki-tai (18 A6M) thru April 6, 1943 after to Rabaul
251st Kokutai Detachment (Irving) June 30 to Oct 12, 1943
702nd Kokutai Detachment (G4M1 Betty)
705nd Kokutai Detachment (G4M1 Betty)
204th Kokutai Detachment (A6M Zero)
(JAAF) Japanese Naval Units Based at Ballale
11th Sentai (Ki-43-I) January 27, 1943 raid to Guadalcanal
Base Defense Units (January 1943)
18th Construction Group
6th Kure Chinjufu (Talahashi Group - 3 x 12cm Guns, Kanehara Group)
7th Yokosuka Chinjufu Miyake (4 x 7cm Guns)
13th Anti-Aircraft Group (Imoo Group)

POW Labor
A contingent of 517 British Royal Artillery Regiment POWs that surrendered in Singapore in February 1942. The contingent was selected from prisoners at Chengi POW Camp and shipped to Rabaul where some remained on Watom Island. The remaining 517 were shipped to Ballale where they labored for the Japanese, without medicine or air raid shelters. Many died from harsh treatment and Allied bombing raids. The remainder were all killed around March 1943 when the Japanese feared an Allied landing in the area. In addition, Chinese and Solomon Island laborers were employed to work on the island.

Height of Ballale
The airfield's height of operations was early 1943, when it was used for bombers and fighter detachments (Southern Area Fleet Nanha Momen Kantai).  During Operation I-Go, Allied intelligence reported 95 aircraft on the island on April 6, 1943. Also on May 13, intelligence observed 96 fighters and one bomber, according to USMC records.

Allied Aerial Assault
Discovered by the Allies in the middle of January 1943, hundreds of bombing missions and fighter sweeps targeted the airfield. After the Allied landing at Torokina, the island was bypassed and left to 'wither on a vine'.

Allied Missions Against Ballale
January 16, 1943 - May 28, 1944

Destination Yamamoto Never Arrived
After departing Rabaul, Admiral Yamamoto was scheduled to arrival at Ballale Airfield on April 18, 1943 at 11:35am. His visit was an inspection of forward airfields and to boost morale boost, after the loss of the Guadalcanal campaign. Instead, his G4M1 Betty 2656 was shot down over Bougainville.

Tom Blackburn in VF-17 The Jolly Rogers recalls the accuracy of AA:
"Dubbed 'Ballale Postgraduate School for Frustrated Anti-Aircraft gunners'. On the way home from missions we would strafe Ballale. I was never convinced that we did enough damage to warrant the risks, but I am certain our on going efforts inflicted psychological damage. Still I am not sure that it was worth the deaths sustained at the hands of their anti-aircraft gunners."

Fear of Invasion
In middle 1943, the Japanese feared an American invasion of the island, due to increased bombing raids and sea bombardments. Around the middle of 1943, the remaining Solomon Islander laborers were sent away, and the Japanese executed the remaining British POWs. They buried their bodies in a mass grave, so as not to attract attention from cremation smoke. Later garrisons were made to believe or lied, saying they believed the graves were Japanese.

Neutralization
The island was neutralized by the middle of October 1943. Accurate anti-aircraft batteries were still a threat, any flyable aircraft were withdrawn. Some of the Japanese fled, by attempting to swimming on empty fuel drums to Bougainville to join Japanese forces. At the end of the war, 480 Japanese remained on the island, survivors from the 6th Kure (321) and 7th Yokosuka (159) defenders.

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

October 25, 1943

View in Google Earth