It doesn’t look like much today, a barren, cratered wartime airstrip in the shadow of the mighty Mount Pagan stratovolcano. But the abandoned airfield on the west side of Pagan Island, located within the arc-shaped archipelago known as the Marianas, housed a 2,150-strong garrison of the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War Two.
Pagan Airstrip was laid out in 1935 and boasted a 3,000 ft grass runway. Even today this picturesque island bears the scars of war and echoes of the axis forces once based there.
(Image: Michael Lusk, cc-nc-4.0)
The American flag flying over the wartime strip is a reminder of the sustained allied offensive that cut off supplies to Pagan Island prior to Japan’s surrender. During this time the Japanese garrison stationed there faced starvation and many died of malnutrition before their leaders were forced to the negotiating table.
(Images: Michael Lusk (top, bottom), cc-nc-4.0)
Relics of the Japanese Imperial Navy abound across the former Pacific Theatre military bases, and Pagan Island is no different. The edge of the abandoned airstrip is punctuated by abandoned bunkers and the wrecks of several Japanese wartime aircraft, most notably the skeleton of a Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero fighter half buried in the ground.
(Images: Michael Lusk, cc-nc-4.0; Jennifer)
Nearby, its propellers still visible, lies the hulk of a Mitsubishi G3M bomber framed by the imposing form of Mount Pagan, which erupted in 1981 causing the evacuation of all remaining islanders.
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