Lakunai 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...

 located near Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

, East New Britain

East New Britain

East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, on the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and it also includes the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in the 1994 volcanic eruption...

, 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...

. The airfeild was later known as Rabaul Airport. It is located at the foot of Tavurvur

Tavurvur

Tavurvur is an active volcano that lies near Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. It is a sub-vent of the Rabaul caldera and lies on the eastern rim of the larger feature...

 volcano, near Matupit Island. The airport was destroyed by the 1994 eruption that destroyed the town of Rabaul and subsequently the new airport was built and opened at Tokua, on the opposite side of the Rabaul caldera. The former airport was located at 04°13′S 152°11′E.

The airfield was constructed by the 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...

 as an emergency landing strip for Vunakanau Airfield and consisted of a unpaved 4,700 foot single runway 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...

. The airfield was captured during the battle of Rabaul

Battle of Rabaul (1942)

The Battle of Rabaul, also known by the Japanese as Operation R, was fought on the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea, in January and February 1942. It was a strategically significant defeat of Allied forces by Japan in the Pacific campaign of World War II...

 in 1942 by the Imperial Japanese and was extensively modified and expanded. Lakunai was later neutralized by Allied air bombing from 1944.

Japanese Units based at Lakunai Airfield

• Chitose Kokutai (A5M Claude
  Mitsubishi A5M
  The Mitsubishi A5M, Japanese Navy designation was "Type 96 carrier-based fighter" was a Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft. It was the world's first monoplane shipboard fighter and the direct ancestor of the famous Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero'...
  
  )
• 4th Kokutai (A5M Claude & A6M Zero) - February 10, 1942
• Tainan Kokutai (A6M Zero)
• 6th Kokutai (A6M Zero)
• 501st Kokutai (D4Y Judy
  Yokosuka D4Y
  The D4Y Navy Type 2 Carrier Dive bomber was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its Allied reporting name was "Judy". The D4Y was one of the fastest dive-bombers of the war, and only the delays in its development hindered its service, while its predecessor, the slower fixed gear Aichi D3A...
  
  )
• 11th Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar
  Nakajima Ki-43
  The Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa was a single-engine land-based tactical fighter used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II...
  
  )
• 1st Sentai (Ki-43 Oscar)
• 68th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony
  Kawasaki Ki-61
  The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien was a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force...
  
  )
• 78th Sentai (Ki-61 Tony)
• 81st Sentai (Ki-46 Dinah
  Mitsubishi Ki-46
  The Mitsubishi Ki-46 was a twin-engine reconnaissance aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Its Army Shiki designation was Type 100 Command Reconnaissance Aircraft ; the Allied nickname was "Dinah"....
  
   and Ki-21 Sally
  Mitsubishi Ki-21
  The was a Japanese bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including the Malayan, Burmese, Dutch East Indies and New Guinea Campaigns...
  
  )