Corunna Downs Airfield | |||||||||||||||||||
Ensign: | Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ||||||||||||||||||
Partof: | World War II | ||||||||||||||||||
Location: | Pilbara region | ||||||||||||||||||
Nearest Town: | Marble Bar | ||||||||||||||||||
Country: | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||
Pushpin Map: | Australia Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||
Pushpin Relief: | yes | ||||||||||||||||||
Pushpin Map Caption: | location of the airbase in Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates: | -21.4333°N 119.7828°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Type: | Airbase | ||||||||||||||||||
Ownership: | Royal Australian Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator: | No. 73 Operational Base Unit RAAF[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
Open To Public: | Yes | ||||||||||||||||||
Condition: | Poor | ||||||||||||||||||
Used: | until | ||||||||||||||||||
Fate: | Abandoned | ||||||||||||||||||
Events: | Long range missions against Japanese shipping and base facilities in the Dutch East Indies | ||||||||||||||||||
Occupants: | Australia
United States | ||||||||||||||||||
R1-Number: | NS | ||||||||||||||||||
R1-Length: | 5000x | ||||||||||||||||||
R1-Surface: | Dirt | ||||||||||||||||||
R2-Number: | EW | ||||||||||||||||||
R2-Length: | 7000x | ||||||||||||||||||
R2-Surface: | Dirt
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Corunna Downs Airfield was a secret Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Corunna Downs, 40km (30miles) south of Marble Bar in the Pilbara region of Western Australia during World War II.[2] In 1942 the RAAF built a secret airbase on Corunna Downs Station, adjacent to the 1891 homestead. The airfield, created especially for B-24 Liberator long-range heavy bombers, comprised two intersecting bitumen runways, a north–south (165°) runway 5000x and an east–west (107°) runway 7000x.
No. 73 Operational Base Unit was responsible for operating the airfield during World War II.
The RAAF No. 24 Squadron, No 25 Squadron and the United States Army Air Corps 380th Bomb Group flew long range missions against Japanese shipping and base facilities in the Dutch East Indies.
The base has been abandoned since World War II.[3]