Pongani Airfield was an aerodrome

Aerodrome

An aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...

 built during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 at Pongani

Pongani, Papua New Guinea

-History:During World War II, the area around the village was used as a staging area for allied forces for the Battle of Buna-Gona. The United States 126th Infantry Regiment and 128th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division together with Australian 2/6th Independent Company staged in...

 village 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...

.

Built by native Pongani village men, women and children, under the supervision of Australia New Guinea Administrative Unit officer Jack Wilkinson, cleared a single grass runway built on kunai field behind Pongani village.

Used by United States Army Air Force C-47 Dakotas and Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 Lockheed Hudson

Lockheed Hudson

The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...

s, primarily for transport flights, and also as an emergency landing field.

Abandoned after the fall of Buna

Buna, Papua New Guinea

Buna is a village in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. It was the site in part, of the Battle of Buna-Gona during World War II, when it constituted a variety of native huts and a handful of houses with a airstrip...

and the development of airfields in the Dobodura area. After World War II, the airfield was utilised by the missionaries. The airfield is overgrown with kunai grass and is disused.