Kukum Field also known as Fighter 2 Airfield is a former World War II airfield on

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

, Solomon Islands.

World War II

From the beginning of the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

it was planned that the area would be developed into a major air base. In November 1942 the 6th Naval Construction Battalion began work on a fighter strip at Lunga Point. The 6th Battalion was later replaced by the First Marine Aviation Engineers who completed the coral-surfaced runway by 1 January 1943. In June–July 1943 the 46th and 61st Battalions built a second coral-surfaced by runway with shoulders, coral taxiways wide, and 121 hardstands. The 26th Battalion built a tank farm providing storage for of aviation gasoline, of motor gasoline, and of diesel oil. USAAF units based at Kukum included: *

12th Fighter Squadron 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria, South Africa See also * 12 (disambiguation) Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year Years * 12 BC * ...

operating P-39s from 7 February 1943 – 19 February 1944 * 68th Fighter Squadron operating P-38s and P-39s from January–December 1943 *

339th Fighter Squadron 339th may refer to: *339th Aviation Detachment, United States Army Aviation Branch *339th Bombardment Group, unit of the New York Air National Guard *339th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *339th Fighter Group, unit of th ...

operating P-38s from 2 October 1942 (det) - 1 December 1943 and 29 December 1943 - 15 January 1944 USMC units based at Kukum included: * VMF-124 operating F4Us from 12 February–September 1943 F4U-1s VMF-124 on Guadalcanal 1943

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

units based at Kukum included: * 1 Squadron operating

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1 ...

s from October 1944 * 2 Squadron operating Venturas from August–October 1944 * 3 Squadron operating Venturas from July–August 1944 * 14 Squadron operating P-40s from 11 June-25 July 1943 * 15 Squadron operating P-40s 26 April–June 1943 and from mid-September-mid-November 1943 * 16 Squadron operating P-40s from 25 July - September 1943 * 17 Squadron operating P-40s from mid-September-20 October 1943

Postwar

Kukum Field remained operational after the war as a civilian airfield until 1969 when Henderson Field was modernized and reopened as Honiara International Airport. The airfield is now part of the Honiara Golf Course.

References

{{Reflist Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II United States Marine Corps air stations Aviation in the Solomon Islands Military installations closed in the 1940s