Cape Opmarai Airfield is a disused airfield located near

Sansapor Sausapor (alternates: SansaporHarper Encyclopedia of Military Biography; Dupuy; HarperCollins 1992; pages=462 or Tandjong Sausapor) is a small town and district in the Tambrauw Regency of Southwest Papua, Indonesia. The town is located on the north ...

, in

Southwest Papua Southwest Papua ( id, Papua Barat Daya) is a province of Indonesia, and is a fraction of Western New Guinea. Despite being named southwest, it is a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The area that belo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It is abandoned and overgrown, disused since 1944.

History

The airfield was used during the Sansapor-Cape Opmarai Operation, 30 July-31 August 1944 in northern

Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...

. On 30 July, a task force comprising elements of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

6th Division made simultaneous and unopposed landings near Cape Opmarai on the mainland, and on Middelburg and Amsterdam Islands to the northwest. Only a few enemy stragglers were encountered. The next day a shore-to shore landing from Cape Opmarai was carried out at Sansapor. As in other New Guinea areas, airdrome construction proceeded rapidly. In a short time airfields at Cape Opmarai and on Middelburg Island and a float plane base at Amsterdam Island were fully operative. The airfield was used as a tactical fighter strip, then abandoned after MacArthur moved into the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

on his drive to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

References

External links

{{USAAF 7th Air Force World War II Airports in Southwest Papua Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II World War II sites in Indonesia