Location
Located in the Markam Valley at Nadzab, outside of Lae.

Wartime History
Occupied by the Japanese with only occasional Japanese Army patrols through the area. Some references incorectly show a Japanese emergency strip at this location. In fact, there was no airfield here.

Site of the only Allied paratrooper assault in New Guinea  mainland on September 5, 1943 by the US Army's 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and Australian AIF 2/4th Field Gun Volunteers landing with short barrel 25 pounders. The operation was successful and met little resistance.

Construction
Built by the US Army and developed into a massive airbase complex. Home to many air units during the war when it was a forward base of operations against Japanese positions, and was vital afterwards as a staging area.

Two parallel runways were built, running rougly east to west. No. 1 Strip was located to the north. Parallel and to the south was No. 2 Strip, closest to the Markham River.

American Units Based at Nadzab
5th Air Force & RAAF

Veteran John Farrell recalls:
"As a pilot in the 319th Squadron of the 90th Bomb Group I remember well my time at Nadzab. Many early morning take offs were in foggy conditions and on the return trip from a mission we often encountered stormy conditions. It rained every day and was hotter than the hinges of hell. Mountains loomed very close at takeoff and landing. Altogether a scary place."

Veteran Jack Heyn recalls:
"The one event that sticks very prominently in my mind was not a pleasant one. The 90th Bomb Gp.(H) was also stationed at Nadzab with their B-24's. There was about a six day stretch when you could almost set your watch at 7:00 A.M. by an explosion. It would be a B-24 fully loaded with bombs and fuel, exploding on take-off. Never did hear what the problem was, but they made a hell of a racket and a hell of a crater in the runway. And that was a hell of a way for those poor guys to go -- but then there aint no easy way."

Joe Potts, 40th Fighter Squadron recalls:
"It was at Nadzab that I saw the Ki-61 Tony for the first time, that was a sweet looking plane. They came down and strafed us. We all dived into the nearest trench, all falling on top of each other. We could hear the bullets whistling by as they strafed, they really did whistles, just like in the movies! They were sleek looking planes with that inline engine. They looked like our P-51s! Also at Nadzab, I remember getting a 'speeding ticket' in a jeep, doing 35 mph in a 30 mile an hour zone! The MPs followed me and matched my speed. There was no one else on the whole road! But, you know how cops are! "

Late War Activity
Towards the end of the war, the 21st Air Depot Unit at Nadzab was a boneyard for scrapped planes and salvage area for repairs. The CRTC (Combat Replacement Training Center) flew out of the base into 1945.

Post War Scrapping
Most of the wrecks at Nadzab were scraped immediately after the war, permits being awarded to private contractors who were given rights to scrap aircraft, sell aviation fuel and oil. As early as September of 1945, hundreds of wrecks were scrapped by a private Australian smelting company. Two expatriates involved with the scrapping were Eric Snook(s) and Arthur Scott.

Although most wartime wreckage was scrapped or otherwise disappeared According to Charles Darby, in the mid 1970's other wreckage remained, including a Stinson L-1 and 11 Hadrian gliders.

Today
The former 'East Base' or No. 1 & No. 2 runways are still in use by Air Nugini and for civil aviation, mainly servicing Lae which is 45 km away. Nearly every road in the area was built by American forces, and even as you land at Nadzab today, you can still see WWII era taxiways in the overgrown areas outside the modern landing area.

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