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 USMC February 1944  Avery c1944  USAAF c1945  David Paulley 1982  H Sakaguchi 2003 |
Location Lat 6°12'1.52"S Long 155° 3'27.10"E Piva North Airfield was located at Piva on western Bougainville. Also known as "Piva North Airfield", "Piva Uncle Airfield", "Piva 1", "Piva U" or "Piva Bomber Strip". Prewar and during World War II, part of the "North Solomons" or "Northern Solomons" or "Bougainville Province". Today located in Torokina Rural LLG of Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Construction On November 29, 1943 U.S. personnel began construction of a runway near the Piva River. By December 30, 1943 the runway at Piva North Airfield was completed. On January 9, 1944 officially opened surfaced with marston matting / Pierced Steel Planking (PSP). The main runway was roughly east to west. Another parallel runway, Piva South (Piva Yoke, Piva No. 2) was located directly to the south. Taxiways connected the two Piva strips together. At the height operations, the runway was 6,000' of marston matting, with 2,000' extension of compacted sand on the western end, but suffered drainage problems from the constant rains and soft soil. Wartime History Piva North was used by Allied bombers, fighters and transports including aircraft from the U.S. Navy (USN) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) until late 1944. During late 1944, used by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) until the end of the Pacific War in September 1945 and in the months postwar. Allied units based at Piva North Airfield U.S. Navy (USN) units 30 TB Squadron (TBF) - Mar 23, 1944 - ? VT-305 (Avenger) 1944 VB-305 (SBD) 1944 VMO-251 (FG Corsair) 1944 U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) units 1st MAW, HQ (Avenger) VMF-215 (F4U) VMD-254 (photo lab detachment) January 16, 1944 VMF(N)-531 (PV-1 Ventura) VMTB 233 (TBF) Munda arrives January 17, 1944–March 2, 1944 United States VMSB-235 (SBD) Bauer Field arrives June 5, 1944–June 24, 1944 Green Island (Nissan) VMSB-236 (SBD) Munda arrives January 25, 1944 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) units No. 5 Squadron (Wirraway, Boomerang, Beaufort) November 11, 1944–September 1945 Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) units No. 25 Squadron (SBD) March 23, 1944 - ? No. 3 Squadron (PV-1 Ventura) No. 30 Squadron (Avenger) Espiritu Santo March - May 1944 No. 31 Squadron (Avenger) On March 8, 1944 shortly after dawn, Japanese artillery opened fire on Piva Airfield and destroyed one B-24 Liberator, three fighters and damaged nineteen other aircraft. Before nightfall all bombers left for New Georgia area airfields, aside from six TBF Avengers. The bombardment also damaged one 155mm gun and several tanks. The next day, the Japanese bombarded Torokina Airfield. On July 5, 1945, Avro York "Endeavour" landed at Piva Airfield with Royal Highness (HRH) Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester, Governor General of Australia aboard. He was greeted by Australian Army, 2 Corps General Officer Commanding (GOC) Lieutenant General Stanley George Savige. Afterwards, he toured Motupena Point and 2/1 Australian General Hospital. Airdromes Guide Southwest Pacific Area, July 1945: "Piva North is the only Bougainville airdrome on operational status. Night landing facilities: search light on request. Service facilities: fuel and old tank truck delivery, repairs available. Accommodations for transient and emergency landed crews." Today Piva North Airfield remained in use until 1988 at the start of the "Bougainville Crisis" and became overgrown and disused since. Today, the former runway is overgrown and abandoned. Camp Fryslie Built by a previous unit, this camp area was occupied by Marine Photographic Squadron 254 (VMD-254) photo lab and when they arrived. Named "Camp Fryslie" in in honor of U.S. Marine Sgt John V. Fryslie who died November 28, 1943 as a passenger in the crash of PB4Y-1 Liberator 32144 crashed while landing at Palmyra Airfield. Japanese War Memorial Erected by Japanese in August 1978 Japanese memorial with a statue and memorial plaque at the airfield. Read Plaque. Contribute
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