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    Sorong (Sorong City) West Papua Province Indonesia

38th BG June 22, 1944
Location
Lat 0° 52' 60S Long 131° 15' 0E  Sorong is located at an elevation of 7' above sea level on the Vogelkop Peninsula at the northwestern tip of New Guinea. To the north is Cape Kasuari (Tanjung Kasuari). Beyond to the west are offshore islands including Doom Island (Dom Island), Soop Island and Jefman Island (Efman, Yef Man). Prewar and during the Pacific War located in the Dutch New Guinea (DNG) in the Netherlands East Indies (NEI). Today, known as Sorong City or Kota Sorong in Indonesian and is an Autonomous City (Kota) surrounded by the Sorong Regency in West Papua Province of Indonesia.

Prewar
In the 1930s, the Dutch oil company Nederlandsch Nieuw Guinee Petroleum Maatschappij (NNGPM) discovered oil off Sorong and established facilities at this locaiton.

Wartime History
On December 28, 1941 Sorong was targeted by Japanese planes that bombed Sorong Seaplane Base killing three and wounding six. During 1942 occupied by the Japanese as they occupied Dutch New Guinea. Starting in the middle of 1943 targeted by Allied bombers and fighters until late 1944. Occupied by the Japanese until the official surrender of Japan.

Japanese and Allied missions against Sorong
December 28, 1941–October 8, 1944

Sorong Seaplane Base
Prewar Dutch seaplane base, occupied by the Japanese until the end of the Pacific War.

Domine Eduard Osok Airport (Sorong Airport)
Built in the 1990s and opened 2004 to serve Sorong, today second largest airport in West Papua Province.

References
Pub. 164 Sailing Direction (Enroute) New Guinea (1994) pages 111-112
The Flying Circus (2005) by Jim Wright adds:
"One of our [380th BG] crews on a reconassance sortie dropped bombs on a village named Sorong... We were unexpectedly chastised by some upper-echelon source. It seemed that Sorong was not an 'approved' target. We figured that, unbeknownst to any of us, Allied forces had been getting some valuable intelligence covertly from a secret 'mole' in that location, well behind Japanese lines. Otherwise, why make a thing of it?"
Welkom in mijn fotoalbum over Nieuw Guinea - Sorong en Doom 1962 (photos)
Welkom in mijn fotoalbum over Nieuw Guinea - Doom en Sorong 98 (photos)

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Last Updated
November 14, 2023

 

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