Lakunai Airfield, later known as Rabaul Airport, was an

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

located near

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

East New Britain East New Britain is a Provinces of Papua New Guinea, province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital ...

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 located at the foot of

Tavurvur Tavurvur is an active stratovolcano near Rabaul, on the island of New Britain, in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature. An eruption of the volcano largely destroyed the nearby ...

volcano, near Matupit Island. The airport was destroyed by the 1994 eruption that destroyed the town of Rabaul and subsequently a new airport was built and opened at Tokua, on the opposite side of the

Rabaul caldera The Rabaul caldera, or Rabaul Volcano, is a large volcano on the tip of the Gazelle Peninsula in East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, and derives its name from the town of Rabaul inside the caldera. The caldera has many sub-vents, Tavurvur being t ...

. The former airport was located at .

World War II

The airfield was constructed by the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

as an emergency landing strip for Vunakanau Airfield and consisted of an unpaved 4,700 foot single runway during

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 ...

. The airfield was captured during the Battle of Rabaul in 1942 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 ...

and was extensively modified and expanded. Lakunai was later neutralized by Allied air bombing from 1944.

Allied Units based at Lakunai Airfield

No. 8 Squadron RAAF No. 8 Squadron was an Australian flying training squadron of World War I and medium bomber squadron of World War II. The squadron was formed in England in October 1917 as part of the Australian Flying Corps, and disbanded in April 1919. It was r ...

Bristol Beaufort The Bristol Beaufort (manufacturer designation Type 152) is a British twin-engined torpedo bomber designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and developed from experience gained designing and building the earlier Bristol Blenheim, Blenheim li ...

(1945)

Japanese Units based at Lakunai Airfield

* Chitose Kōkūtai ( A5M Claude) *4th

Kōkūtai A ''kōkūtai'' () was a military aviation unit in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS), similar to the Group (military aviation unit), air groups in other air arms and services of the time. Some comparable units included ''wing'' in th ...

(A5M Claude &

A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

) - February 10, 1942 * Tainan Kōkūtai (A6M Zero) *6th Kōkūtai (A6M Zero) *501st Kōkūtai ( D4Y Judy) *11th Sentai ( Ki-43 Oscar) *1st Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar) *68th Sentai ( Ki-61 Tony) *78th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony) *81st Sentai ( Ki-46 Dinah and Ki-21 Sally)

Post-War and Subsequent Destruction

After World War II, it was used as a civilian airport until 1994, when a Volcanic eruption occurred at

volcano at which the airport was located. The airport was covered in ash and destroyed, this led to a new airport being built for Rabaul.

Notes

References

* *

External links

*http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/lakunai/index.html
LAKUNAI AIRPORT RABAUL
{{authority control Transport in Papua New Guinea Defunct airports in Papua New Guinea Airports in Papua New Guinea East New Britain Province