[motto]

Thanks for the link Mike. I have been personally acquainted with a number of the PNG wrecks listed and some of the characters involved since the early 70s and it's rare to see anything 'in print' so to speak.
Aircraft losses in that area during the war were quite high due to a combination of circumstances, inexperienced crews, extreme and rapidly changing weather conditions, confusing and mountainous terrain, heavily laden aircraft. Even without the presence of a determined enemy it is a dangerous place to aviate. Cumulogranite still claims the unwary and the story is told in the wreckage scattered all over the country.
Added to this were the aircraft simply abandoned on airfields as the war moved on, or in the case of Japanese aircraft particularly, many were destroyed on the ground.
No mention is made of the situation in Irian Jaya or West Irian, the western half of the island controlled by the Indonesians. In the 70s it was inaccessible with a large amount of aircraft wrecks still relatively untouched. Probably all cleaned out now by the scrappies.

David