But Airfield, also known as But West to the Japanese and But Drome to the Allies, is a former

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

airfield near But,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. It was primarily used for light and medium bombers.

History

But Airfield was built by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

beginning on 6 February 1943. Initially the field consisted of one runway that was 1200m x 80m. Australian forces captured the airfield in April 1945, repaired the runway and continued to use the airfield. By the end of the war the runway had been expanded to over 1500m and 29 revetments. Additionally there were 17 revetments for bombers on the north side and another 12 on the south side. Two searchlight batteries and 16 anti-aircraft guns (8 heavy and 8 light were employed in its defense. The airfield was abandoned after the war.

Units based at airfield

*23rd Sentai

Nakajima Ki-43 The Nakajima Ki-43 ''Hayabusa'' (, "Peregrine falcon"), formal Japanese designation is a single-engine land-based tactical Fighter aircraft, fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in World War II. The Allied World War II Allie ...

*26th Sentai

Mitsubishi Ki-51 The Mitsubishi Ki-51 (Army designation "Type 99 Assault Plane"; Allied reporting name Sonia) was a light bomber/dive bomber in service with the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It first flew in mid-1939. Initially deployed against Ch ...

*74th Air Company

References

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Pacific Wrecks - But Airfield
Transport in Papua New Guinea World War II airfields in Papua New Guinea East Sepik Province {{PapuaNewGuinea-airport-stub