Wakde is an island of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, part of the province of West Papua, between the districts of Pantai Timur and Tor Atas.

Occupied by Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese forces in April 1942, Wakde

Wakde Airfield

Wakde Airfield is a World War II airfield located on Located on Wakde Island, off the northern coast of New Guinea in West Papua Province, Indonesia. The airfield was abandoned after the war and today is almost totally returned to its natural state.-History:...

 served as an airbase. United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 forces landed in May 1944 (the Battle of Wakde

Battle of Wakde

The Battle of Wakde was part of the New Guinea campaign of World War II. It was fought between the United States and Japan from 15 May 1944 to 18 May 1944....

or Operation Straight Line) and used the airfield.

In September 2005, the remains of Japanese soldiers and Papuans were found in a cave on the uninhabited island.

The island is located at 1°56′S 139°1′E, two miles off the northern coast of Papua, near the Tor River.