Construction
Located
to the south of Skomabo Village and to the west of the Tami River,
the drome was a 4,800' single runway (on March 21, 1944), begun
by the Japanese, it reached servicable condition, but was not fully
used prior to the liberation by US Army. There are no known Japanese
operations from this strip.
Capture by Americans
Two
Almo scout teams entered the area on D+2 (April 24, 1944) a sizable
party of missionaries and Japanese prisoners was liberated at Goya
nearby, and were questioned and evacuated. On April 27 1944, reinforcments
of the G Company of the 162nd Infantry arrived
to clear the
area.
Security was established for engineering units found it more or
less complete (by Japanese not US standards).
American Improvement
They completed
the
construction of the airfield. On May 1st, enemy snipers became
very active and additional US forces cleared the area
with vigorous paroling.
By May 3rd, a 3,800 foot runway was completed and ready for
use with transport planes. The wreckage of at least one Japanese aircraft wreck was present at the strip [radio recovered].
American Useage
It was extended to 4000' and used extensively
for cargo C-47 operation, at its hegith several hundered take offs
and landings per day to bring in cargo to get the main airfield, Hollandia
Aerodrome ready for use by Americans. Due to
its swampy location further development was abandoned.
Today
This airstrip is abandoend, disused since the war.
References
Thanks to Richard Dunn for American usage information.