Nissan Island is the largest of the Green Islands

Green Islands, Papua New Guinea

The Green Islands are a small group of islands in Papua New Guinea. They are located at , about east of Rabaul on New Britain and about northwest of Bougainville. The Green Islands are administered as part of Bougainville Province .Nissan is the largest island of the group. Other islands include:...

 of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. It is located at 4°30′S 154°13′E, about 200 km east of Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

 on New Britain

New Britain

New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...

 and about 200 km northwest of Bougainville

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

.
During the Second World War an American Air Force base was constructed on the island. Richard Nixon was a supply officer on the base, and is remembered as being popular with the indigenous inhabitants. There was also a PT boat base on another island nearby. The Air base had B-24 bombers and Corsairs. There were approximately 17,000 allied trops on the island at that time. Much of the indigenous population was removed to Guadacanal for about 7-9 months. After that time the front line had moved closer to Japan and the island was no longer need in the war effort.