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Kukum Field also known as Fighter 2 Airfield is a former
Royal New Zealand Air Force units based at Kukum included:
* 1 Squadron operating Lockheed Venturas 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
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 on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
.
World War II
From the beginning of theGuadalcanal Campaign
The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by the United States, was an Allies of World War II, Allied offensive against forces of the Empire of Japan in the Solomon Islands during 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 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 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
Royal New Zealand Air Force units based at Kukum included:
* 1 Squadron operating Lockheed Venturas 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.See also
*Carney Airfield
Carney Airfield is a former World War II airfield on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in the Oceania, South Pacific. It is located near Koli Point about six miles from Henderson Field (Guadalcanal), Henderson Field, close to the Metapona River to t ...
* Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)
* Koli Airfield
*United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific Area
During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces engaged in combat against the Empire of Japan in the South Pacific Area. As defined by the War Department, this consisted of the Pacific Ocean areas which lay south of the Equator between l ...
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