Former Cape Gloucester No. 1 Airfield

Cape Gloucester No. 1 Airfield
This airfield, built by Australia before the war, was captured by Japanese marines on December 17, 1942. The airfield was deemed unserviceable at that time. The Japanese army expanded the airfield but it was abandoned when it was captured by elements of the First Marine Division on 29 December 1943.

New Britain Campaign
On New Britain, the Marines had to contend with relentless rain and jungle conditions, as they pushed the Japanese back toward Rabaul, on the eastern extreme of New Britain.

Military historians have long believed that the campaign on New Britain was one of the most efficient in the Pacific War, in that the Marines achieved all their objectives and suffered relatively few casualties in their operations.

For background reading on the campaign, here is an extract from Lt. Colonel Frank Hough’s USMC monograph on the battle. Richard Wheeler’s A Special Valor: The U.S. Marines and the Pacific War has an excellent chapter on Cape Gloucester and the campaign on New Britain.

Practical information to reach Cape Gloucester can be found here

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