Seghe Airfield
| Seghe Airfield | |
|---|---|
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| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | AGGS |
| IATA code | EGM |
| Coordinates | |
The airfield Seghe , Segi Point Airfield , located in the extreme southeast corner of New Georgia , the main island of New Georgia archipelago in the Western province of the island nation of Solomon Islands .
During the Pacific War in World War II , New Georgia was occupied by the Japanese army , but the southeast area of the island was hardly guarded. Shortly before the start of Operation Cartwheel , the Americans landed on New Georgia as part of Operation Toenails (→ Battle of New Georgia ). On June 21 and 22, 1943, the fast transporters USS Dent , USS Waters , USS Schley and USS Crosby set off units of the 4th Marine Raider Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Michael S. Currin and the 43rd Infantry Division at Segi Point.
Also the 47th Seabees - battalion was among the landed units. The battalion began building an airfield at Segi Point. The 914 meter long runway , which was paved with crushed pieces of coral , was completed by July 10th. The Japanese only discovered the new airfield shortly before the end of the work, but the bombs dropped by a Japanese seaplane on July 7th, 8th and 9th only interrupted the work briefly, but left hardly any damage.
Segi Point was intended as an alternative runway for the strategically important airfield at Munda Point , which is only around 65 kilometers away and could be captured by the Americans in August. Machines launched from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal also use Segi Point as an emergency landing airfield if they could no longer reach Guadalcanal due to a shortage of fuel .
The airfield, which is now overgrown by grass, is still used by smaller local airlines.