Corunna Downs Airfield

Corunna Downs Airfield was a secret Royal Australian Air Force base at Corunna Downs, south of Marble Bar in the Pilbara region of Western Australia during World War II.

History

In 1942 the RAAF built a secret airbase on Corunna Downs Station, adjacent to the 1891 Brockman’s homestead. The airfield, created especially for Consolidated B-24 Liberator long-range heavy bombers, comprised two intersecting bitumen runways, a north–south runway and an east–west runway. No. 73 Operational Base Unit was responsible for operating the airfield during World War II. Based in Corunna Downs Airfield, 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. When World War II ended, the airfield was abandoned and never operational since.