Kila Airfield

Kila Airfield Kila Kila Airfield 3-Mile Drome
Part of Fifth Air Force
Located near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Kila Airfield Kila Airfield (Papua New Guinea)
Coordinates	09°29′24.92″S 147°11′31.19″E / 9.4902556°S 147.1919972°E / -9.4902556; 147.1919972
Type	Military airfield
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1944
In use	1944

Kila Airfield (also known as Kila Kila Airfield and 3-Mile Drome) is a former World War II airfield near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was part of a multiple-airfield complex in the Port Moresby area, located north of Joyce Bay, three miles from the town of Port Moresby near the village of Kila Kila.

The airfield was Port Moresby's first civilian airfield, built in 1933 by the Australian administration.

History

The airport was used by the Americans beginning in 1942 and expanded into an airfield for fighters, light bombers and service aircraft. Many USAAF squadrons were briefly stationed at the airfield during the war, and major units assigned to Kila were:

• Headquarters, 3d Bombardment Group (January 28 – May 20, 1943)

8th Bomb Squadron, A-20 Havoc

13th Bomb Squadron, A-20 Havoc

89th Bomb Squadron, A-20 Havoc

90th Bomb Squadron, A-20 Havoc

• 8th Fighter Squadron (49th Fighter Group), 25 September-15 April 1943, P-39 Airacobra
• 80th Fighter Squadron (8th Fighter Group), 21 March-11 December 1943, P-39 Airacobra

A large hill at on the approach to the field limited its usefulness. The runway was 5,000' × 100' surfaced with black loam with marston matting (as of October 8, 1943). A dispersal area with revetments and taxiways were located on the northern side of the runway. Several buildings were located at the center of the runway.

After the war the airfield was returned to the New Guinea government. Today the airfield is now part of the Kila Police Barracks, a golf course and a technical school. Some of the wartime revetments remain on the police property and portions of the wartime taxiways and runway are visible.

See also

• USAAF in the Southwest Pacific
• Port Moresby Airfield Complex

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• www.pacificwrecks.com

External links

USAAF Fifth Air Force in World War II
Previously: Philippine Department Air Force (1941); Far East Air Force (1941-1942)
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