Ondonga Airfield

Ondonga Airfield
Ondonga Island, New Georgia
Coordinates	08°15′54″S 157°12′00″E / 8.26500°S 157.20000°E
Type	Military Airfield
Site information
Controlled by	Royal New Zealand Air Force United States Navy
Condition	abandoned
Site history
Built	1943
Built by	Seebees
In use	1943-4
Materials	Coral
Battles/wars	Bougainville Campaign Operation Cartwheel

Ondonga Airfield is a former World War II airfield on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands archipelago.

History

World War II

Map of Allied operations on New Georgia 5–27 August 1943

The Munda Point area was secured on 5 August 1943. While the rehabilitation and expansion of Munda Point Airfield was the first priority for the Seebees, the 37th and 82nd Naval Construction Battalions soon began building another fighter airfield on Ondonga Island across from Munda Point. Construction proceeded with difficulty as the island was covered with dense jungle over bog and the site was periodically shelled by Japanese artillery on Kolombangara Island and bombed by Japanese aircraft flying from Bougainville. After 25 days the Seebees had completed a coral-surfaced 4,500 feet (1,400 m) by 200 feet (61 m) fighter runway.^[1] By February 1944 the Seebees had completed a second parallel runway, roads, taxiways, hardstands, a control tower and a 12,000 barrel tank farm.^[2]

Royal New Zealand Air Force units based at Ondonga included:

• 14 Squadron operating P-40 Kittyhawks from November–December 1943^[3]
• 15 Squadron operating P-40s from October–November 1943 and December 1943-January 1944^[4]
• 16 Squadron operating P-40s from November 1943-January 1944^[4]
• 17 Squadron operating P-40s January 1944^[5]
• 18 Squadron operating P-40s from October–November 1943^[5]

US Navy units based at Ondonga included:

• VF-17 operating F4Us
• VF-33 operating F6Fs
• VP-12 operating PBYs

USMC units based at Ondonga included:

• VMF-216 operating F4Us

Postwar

The airfield is abandoned and overgrown with vegetation.

See also

• Barakoma Airfield
• Munda Airport
• United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific Area

References

1. Building the Navy's Bases in World War II History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps 1940-1946. US Government Printing Office. 1947. p. 265.
2. Bases, p.266
3. Ross, 1955, p. 325
4. Ross, 1955, p. 326
5. Ross, 1955, p. 327

• Ross, John (1993) [1955]. Royal New Zealand Air Force. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Nashville: Battery Press. ISBN 0898391873.