[Illustration: _Commander Aircraft New Georgia, BGen Francis P.
Mulcahy, expanded airfield operations on Munda with the construction
of more secure shelters than those the Japanese left behind. A heavily
sandbagged sickbay is on the left and the personnel office is in the
center. The frame of a prefabricated Quonset hut is being assembled to
the right rear._]
[Illustration: _The first fighter plane to land on Munda was a VMF-215
Corsair flown by Maj Robert G. Owens, Jr., on 14 August 1943. Flight
operations began immediately to cover the Vella Lavella landings._
Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 60270
]
By 15 August, the 9th Defense Battalion was set up and emplaced
in new dispersed positions. Three days later, another major naval
surface action occurred off Vella Lavella as the U.S. Navy combatants
intercepted destroyers and barges attempting to evacuate Japanese
troops. From 16 through 19 August, Japanese artillery on Baanga Island
shelled Munda Airfield and Kindu Point causing several casualties
and some minor damage. Friendly aircraft and artillery operated
against these elusive cannon and finally silenced them. The battalion
suffered no casualties from this shelling, though one gun crew’s tent
was demolished by a direct hit and there were several hits on other
positions. The 9th’s antiaircraft guns were now fully placed to protect
the airfield. Enemy air attacks on the Munda area, carried out at
night or in the early morning, continued throughout the rest of the
month. Captain Ervin’s three Battery G 40mm positions seaward of the
airfield were straddled by a string of Japanese bombs that managed to
just miss everyone.
[Illustration: