Finschhafen, The Aftermath of the War

Finschhafen, The Aftermath of the War

 

What was it like right after the war?

 

There were three known major plantations in Finschhafen back in the days, the #Heldsbach, #Salankaua and #Timbulin. The three lie within almost ten miles from each other. There were no vehicle roads before the war, but only horse tracks interrupted by numerous small creeks.

Finschhafen (Buming to Mape), World War 2.

 

How big was it?

 

Here are two sources of reference that can give you a glimpse of how big it was.

During the war Finschhafen had become the third largest military port in the world, after London and New York. At times there were one million Allied soldiers stationed at Finschhafen. It was one big war city between #Mape river and Buming river. Dozens of side roads criss crossed the plantation and connected numerous warehouses, recreation centres, churches and movie theatres. Military equipment of all description and in huge quantities were for the trip to Japan. (Source: Lutheran Church in PNG, the first 100 years)

 

Finschhafen was subsequently developed into "one of the largest bases in the Southwest Pacific area" according to Garth Pratten. Throughout 1944, the base saw considerable development with the establishment of a staging camp that had a divisional capacity, a wharf, ramps for tank landing ships LSTs ramps and piers. In addition, several airfields were established capable of hosting both fighter and bomber aircraft, as well as several fuel dumps.

 

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

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Here is the link to a rare aerial view video of Finschhafen as an allied base during WW2 https://www.facebook.com/groups/463909810768670/permalink/475583752934609/

 

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Photo below: The aftermath of WWII at FINSCHHAFEN. After the war there were so many metal wreckage around the place that needed to be cleared. The wrecks were either buried in the ground or dumped in the sea.

 

Photo source: In Book; The LUTHERAN CHURCH in PNG,

The First 100 Years, 1886-1986, Page 588, [ 4266 ] gp

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compiled by WGuti