World War II The Munda Point airfield was first built in World War II by Japanese forces. A Japanese directive in late October 1942 called for an air base to be built at Munda Point, about northwest of
Guadalcanal and
Henderson Field. Construction began in mid-November with a great emphasis on keeping the
forward airfield secret. The majority of the airfield work was done before clearing the main runway and surfacing it with crushed coral. By wiring the tops of palm trees to keep them in place, allowing work to initially escape detection. Finally the trunks were cut away, and runway completed. Despite these efforts, reports of the strip were relayed to Guadalcanal via a Solomon Island
coastwatcher resident in Munda, Danny Kennedy, who notified the British Solomon Island Defence Force in Honiara by radio. Subsequent aerial reconnaissance spotted increased barge traffic and evidence of crushed coral being prepared at the strip, but the Japanese succeeded in buying enough time to complete a single by all weather runway for fighters operational on 17 December 1942. Opened on 1 December 1942, it was used by the Japanese Navy and Japanese Army Air Force as a forward operating base. As soon as it was operational, the airfield was hampered by the observation of Australian, New Zealand and Solomon Islander coastwatchers in the area, including Kennedy and D.C. Horton who was observing the airfield from
Rendova. It was heavily bombed from the air by the Allies prior to the American landing. Munda airfield, also known as Munda or Munda Point Airfield, was the principal objective of the
New Georgia campaign. Following the Allied
Landings on Rendova on 30 June 1943, the
Drive on Munda Point during July and the Japanese
New Georgia counterattack in Mid-July, Munda airfield was captured by the US Army XIV Corps forces after fierce fighting in the jungle area. The high ground around the airfield was captured on August 5, 1943. Once seized,
Seabees from the 47th and 63rd Naval Construction Battalions improved and expanded the airbase for U.S. operations. The first American aircraft landed at Munda on August 14, 1943 with landings by
F4U Corsairs piloted by Robert Owen of
VMF-215, a
44th Fighter Squadron (44th FS)
P-40 Warhawk and a
J2F Duck with Marine Brigadier General
Francis P. Mulcahy aboard. Known American air units stationed at Munda Airfield were: • United States Navy :
VC-24 operating
SBDs :
VC-40 operating
TBFs :
VF-33 operating
F6Fs :
VF-38 operating F6Fs :
CASU 14 (
Carrier Aircraft Service Unit) :
VB-98 operating SBDs :
VB-148 operating
PV-1s :
VB-140 operating PV-1s • United States Army Air Forces :
5th Bombardment Group, 4 February-7 April 1944 :
307th Bombardment Group, 28 January-29 April 1944 • United States Marine Corps : ComAir New Georgia :
VMSB-236 operating SBDs :
VMF-124 operating
F4Us :
VMF-213 operating F4Us :
VMF-214 operating F4Us :
VMF-215 operating F4Us :
VMF-221 operating F4Us :
MABS-1 :
VMSB-142 operating SBDs :
VMTB-232 operating TBFs :
VMSB-341 operating SBDs :
VMTB-143 operating TBFs ==See also==