Lat
9° 4' 60S Long 159° 11' 60E Part of the Russell
Island Group A flat and narrow island to the East of Pavuvu Island.
History
On the evening of January 28, 1943 Japanese landed a force of 300 on
the island, as a diversionary action, for the withdrawal of all Japanese
forces from Cape Esperence in early February. These troops
were later removed or escaped at a date unknown, before mid-February.
Japanese had a barge relaying base in the Russells at
a place called Baizen Maizen. They were
there only there briefly and were pulled out during Operation Ke.
An American reconnaissance on February 19 indicated
the islands were not occupied. On February 20, 1943 at 2300 hours
Task Force 62 sent out from Guadalcanal. and on the morning of the
21st, landed at Banika and Pavuvu.
Heavy Allied air support from Guadalcanal covered the air, as
the 103d Infantry Regiment and 152d Field Artillery Battalion (105
mm Howitzer Tractor-Drawn), 43d Infantry Division land on three
beaches at Banika, the landings are unopposed; the 169th Infantry
Regiment lands the following day.
Ewan Stevenson adds:
"I have seen a photo of a Japanese 150mm mortar (rare) captured on Russells
by the Marine Raiders. It must have been left behind. Strange to have that weapon with
such a small contingent on Russells."
North Field (Banika Field, Sunlight Field)
Located north-west of Sunlight Channel. After the American landing on February 21, 1943, US Navy SeaBees began constructing a single runway that was eventually 4,700' 150' with extensive revetment areas around it. Abandoned since the war.
Renard Field (South Field, Yandina)
American build airfield.
Renard Sound Seaplane Operating Area
Area between North Field and South Field, used as a seaplane operating area, in addition to the open channel to the east. During mid-1943, a ferry service connected the two parts of the island also.
Yellow Beach / Wernham Cove
Located
at the southern
end of Banika. Headquarters and the 1st Battalion Team of the 103d
Regimental Combat Team, the 43d Signal Company, the 11th Defense
Battalion detachment, and 43d Division headquarters landed at this
location. By the end of February, a PT-Boat base and radar station
were established here.
Burns Phillips Wharf
This wharf was built before the war by Burns Phillips company. After the war, munitions, specifically artillery shells were dumped in this area.
Mustard Gas Dump
Banika maintained large dumps for munitions, including poison gas. Although never used in combat, the American military maintained large stockpiles of Mustard gas in artillery shells and bombs. Its presence was highly secret, but well known to men on the island.
Ammo Dump Fire October 1945
Richard A. Saylor RM3C recalled in a October 20, 1945 letter:
"I was going to tell you about the ammo dump that blew up the other morning. It was about 1:30 in the morning, and the siren started blowing like mad. I had just come off an evening watch, and only just got to sleep. The while sky light up, and the ground shoot so that you could feel the tent floor vibrate. I first thought we would hall have to go fight fire. But, we didn't thou they sure cleared the men out of the bases over there on that part of the island fast. We were safe enough here, but the bad part was that there was two and a half miles of mustard gas, and other gas stored there. Just a good thing the fire didn't get it. It burned up till way after noon the same day. Jim was talking to one of the guys who fought the fire and he said he thought he was lucky to be alive. There were bullets, shrapnel and and everything but no one got burnt. He said it was as bad as any battle. Boy, glad I'm a radio man."
In 1988, an Australian was demolishing these weapons. After the charge went off, there was an almond odor in the air, and he was burned on the face by mustard gas. American military was immediately dispatched to the island to deal with the possibility of more gas. In late January 2006 another mustard gas report was reported and a second team dispatched. They found nothing other than a few conventional artillery shells in a swampy area.
