Lat
7° 4' 0S Long 155° 52' 0E Island
off Shortland
Island.
History
Pre-war, it was a first settled in the early 1890s by the Tindal family, who built a copra plantation, dock and houses and buildings on the island. The dock was a Burns
Philp trading station until the start of the war in 1942.
Wartime History
This was
the first island in the Solomons occupied by Japanese forces at the
beginning of the war. Shortland
Harbor was used
as a portion of the Shortland Seaplane Base. Japanese forces were based on Faisi, including the 300 personnel of the 851st Kokutai, who lived on the island, occupying the former plantation buildings.
American Missions against Faisi
February 4, 1942 - January 16, 1944
Today
After the war, the island was returned to local people, and is today owned by Sir George Lepping.
F1M2 Pete
Chris Cox recalls:
"I saw a Pete in about 20' feet near
Faisi but it was starting to edge on being invisible. You could
see
it but
it was not very clear from the surface."
