 Named by the English explorer for its deceptively
shallow depth, several wartime aircraft crashed or sunk in this
area. Other nearby bays in the Port Moresby area: Idlers
Bay, Joyce Bay and Fairfax
Harbor.
Units Based at Bootless Bay
US Army
32nd Inf Div, 126th Inf Ref (less company E)
temporary bivouac at Bootless Inlet, before marching across the Kapa
Kapa Trail.
Morris Hill (Zero Hill)
Known as 'Morris Hill' prior to the war.
Located approximately two miles to the east of Jackson Drome, going towards Bootless Bay. Renamed 'Zero Hill' after a A6M2 Zero crash at this location, widely scattering the wreckage when it crashed.
John Douglas adds:
"I went there a few years ago. The valley floor from 7-Mile Drome to Bootless Bay was called "Pom Pom Alley" due to all the anti-aircraft guns."
| A6M2
Zero |
| Piloted by Yoshii, crashe onto Morris Hill, location became known as 'Zero Hill' |
P-40 Wing
Jack Mierzejewski remembers:
"I remember a barbecue near Bootless Bay, just off
the airport at Port Moresby. There was an entire P-40 wing on the beach,
in pretty poor shape for sure, because it was washing around in the
surf. But I remember lifting it and seeing the star and meatball still
preserved on the undersurface!"
| A6M2
Zero |
| Piloted by Nagatomo, first Zero shot down over Port Moresby. |
Loloato
Island
Rectangular island to the SW of Bootless Bay.
Lion
(Manu) Island
Island to the west of Loloata island, SSE
of Bootless Bay. Several ships were sunk post war as dive sites off this island.
 Pyramid
Point
Coastal feature at the west entrance
of Bootless Bay Inet.
'C'
Australian Heavy Battery (Bootless Bay Battery)
First emplaced on Kila beach, but this
location was unsatisfactory, it was then moved Stokes Range, finally
to Drysdale Ridge.
Kila Beach
First emplacement of this battery. The location was unsatisfactory, it was then moved Stokes Range next, finally
to Drysdale Ridge.
Stokes
Battery / Stoakes Range (Pyarmid Point)
Pari Village - Emplacement
on the hillside for a gun and concrete pad.
Bootless
Battery / Drysdale Ridge
Permanent location of the Bootless
Battery, completed March 1943
P-39F Serial
Number 41-7122
Ditched May 17, 1942
P-61
Black Widow Serial
Number ?
Although listed as a Black Widow, more likely a P-70
|
