The Island of New Britain is PNG's largest offshore island and is the most volcanically active area of Papua New Guinea. In September of 1995, the capital city of Rabul was nearly wiped off the map as volcanic ash from nearby Mt Tavurvur buried the city. During WWII, this island was occupied by the Japanese and a major supply base was established in city of Rabul. The Allies dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the island keeping it from being a viable supply base. However, at one time nearly 97,000 Japanese troops were stationed on the island as well as thousands of POW's. The Japanese dug an amazing 170 kilometers of tunnels during their occupation of the island. To avoid a costly battle to overtake the island, the Allies simply elected to bypass it and keep the Japanese pinned down through repeated bombings.

Rabul's Simpson Harbor 1943

Although somewhat hard to see, this picture shows Japanese warships frantically fleeing for the open sea in November of 1943 as Allied aircraft carry out a bombing run from the carriers Saratoga and Princeton. Over 50 Japanese ships were sunk in this harbor during WWII.