World War II The U.S.
35th Infantry Regiment landed on Vella Lavella on 15 August 1943 as part of the
Solomon Islands campaign. The
58th Naval Construction Battalions landed with the Army and began building support facilities despite frequent Japanese air attacks. In August 1943 the Seebees surveyed and cleared a site for an airfield and began building a coral-surfaced by fighter runway. Airfield facilities such as a signal tower, operations room, aviation-gasoline tanks, and camp for operating personnel, were completed in September and the first landing was made on 24 September. By November 1943 an aviation-gasoline tank farm of six 1,000-barrel tanks, with a sea-loading line was operational. US Navy units based at Barakoma included: •
VF-40 operating
F6Fs USMC units based at Barakoma included: •
VMF-212 operating
F4Fs •
VMF-214 operating
F4Us •
VMF-215 operating F4Us •
VMF-221 operating F4Us •
VMF-321 operating F4Us •
VMF(N)-531 operating
PV-1 Venturas at Barakoma On 15 June 1944 the airfield was abandoned and all salvageable materials were dismantled and removed by 12 July 1944.
Postwar The airfield is overgrown with vegetation. ==See also==