Biak Island

Biak Island

Irian Jaya | Indonesia

Lat 1° 0' 0S Long 136° 0' 0E The island today is somewhat developed as a tourist destination. Many parts of the island are off limits to visitors. It has a large Indonesian naval base, with an infrastructure that is better than in most other places in the province.

History
Fierce fighting occurred on this island. After the turn of events in the rest of New Guinea, the Japanese began fortifying the island unbeknownst to the American Army units, primarily the 41st Infantry Division on May 27, 1944. The only tank vs. tank battle in New Guinea occurred on Biak, where Japanese Ha-Go light tanks were knocked out by American Sherman tanks. Japanese soldiers were well entrenched in the interior of the island in limestone caves and fortifications, a trend that would be seen again in islands like Palau. These entrenched troops fought an excellent defense, delaying the reopening of Mokmer Drome with their fire. The casualties at Biak were high - for the American Army, 435 KIA and 2,360 WIA. The Japanese lost an estimated 6,125 KIA, with 460 POWs, and 360 Formosan POWs. American forces then developed the island into a large airbase after occupation.

Japanese Missions Against Biak
May 27, 1944

Base H (Biak)
US Army letter base designation.

At Biak

245th, 246th, 247th Quartermaster Laundry
50th Ordnance Ammunition Co.
1932nd Quartermaster Truck Co.
745th Sanitary Co.
311th Quartermaster Battalion
325th Gas Supply Co.
603rd Port Co.

436th Aviation Squadron
91st Engineer General Service
85th Engineer Dump Truck Co.
738th Engineer Base Depot Co.
1315th Engineer Construction
993rd Quartermaster Service CO
1518th Engineer Water Supply Co.

Bosnik Beach

1990	Site of the American amphibious landing, there are some bits of landing craft and docks still visible. Today, it is one of the more popular beaches for swimming and diving.

PBY Catalina

Japanese Cave (Goa Jepang)

1999

1990

Goa Jepang (Japanese Cave) is the local name for a cave which used to be used as a defense fortress by Japanese soldiers. The Japanese discovered the three-kilometer-long cave in 1943. Its gate is located in Paray beach in Paray village, Biak city. Japanese soldiers entered the cave from Paray beach.

The soldiers occupied three large rooms built inside the cave. The Japanese soldiers managed to shoot down a U.S. plane from their hiding place. However, eventually the US army came to know where the Japanese soldiers were hiding. So in the early morning of July 7, 1944, the US Army attacked the cave. The cave was bombarded. The Americans also dropped drums of gasoline into the hideout and blasted them from the air, setting the cave into fire. The cave burned for several months. Some 3,000 Japanese soldiers were trapped and killed in the attack.

Located in a forest, the cave is one of Biak main tourist attractions. According to Yusuf Rumaropen, an Irianese who has been taking care of the cave for 20 years, the forest is kept intact; tree cutting is strictly forbidden to keep the historic site as it is. The cave is surrounded by fences.

Ambroben
Japanese caves are found near this village

Mokmer Aerodrome

May 1944

1944

1990

Construction
Built by the Japanese, Built by the Japanese less than 100 yards from the beach as the eastern most of the three coastal airfields, to the west of Mokmer village, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight.

American Missions Against Mokmer
5th Air Force missions May 4 - June 24, 1944

Use By USAAF
Liberated by the US Army. Entrenched Japanese 222nd Infantry in the high ground and caves above the strip delayed the use of the strip by American planes.

Today
Post war, the aerodrome was a major refueling point for jet flights from the US to destinations in Indonesia and is over 13,000 feet long, prior to non-stop cross Pacific flights. Today, the airport sees less traffic but is still in use.

Borokoe Aerodrome

May 1944

Construction
Built by the Japanese further inland, located between Mokmer Aerodrome to the west and Sorido to the east, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight. Prior to the American landing, it appeared a second runway was being surveyed nearer to the beach.

Liberation
After American liberation, became 5th Air Force Air Depot area.

Veteran Norm Smith adds:
We used the middle of the 3 airstrips [on Biak] I think we called it Baroke. It was all coral and smooth as glass (particularly when it was wet). If I remember correctly, it had oil pots lit at night to outline the runway. When it rained most of them would go out but the while coral was very visible anyway. It was right next door to the strip that was used as a depot. I delivered a couple of A-20's to the depot for salvage in early '45. Biak was the only place I was present while live bombs were falling. 3 Bettys flew over in formation and dropped a string of daisy cutters over the ramp and past the Officers Club. I was in the club having a beer after having landed from Finschaffen and dove into a drainage trench just outside the club. The bombs didn't do any significant damage, but I scraped the heck out of my chest on the coral in the trench. There was a field hospital near the area they talk about being a nice beach. We would go up there in the afternoon with a cooler of beer and troll for nurses. Saw a lot, but never made actual contact."

Post War
The airfield was used by the Dutch who had kept it as a military airfield, flying P2V Neptunes from the base, and later Hawker Hunters until Inodesian Independence in 1962.

Today
Abandoned as an airfield.

John Voss visited in 1992:
"It was all abandoned: hangers, quonsets, admin bldgs ...and a derelict Hawker Hunter! The Indonesians keep the base looking quite good with all of the weeds kept down. Surprising shape after 30 years of abandonment by the Dutch. The runway was in good shape. I walked all around the base, no one around other than some kids playing basketball."

Sorido Aerodrome

1944

Construction
Built by the Japanese less than 100 yards from the beach, the furthest west of the three main airfields on Biak. Located to the west of Borokoe Aerodrome, parallel to the coastline and the Japen Straight.

Today
The former airfield is a housing area.