Banika to the Bougainville Line
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Window 1 · VMF‑213, First Tour · Leg 4

Banika to the Bougainville Line

From the New Georgia landings to the fighter sweeps over Kahili — the push up the Slot that costs the squadron two of its own.

5legs
129days
~460n. miles
156°E 157°E 158°E 159°E 160°E 7°S 8°S 9°S N BOUGAINVILLE NEW GEORGIA GROUP THE SLOT 1 · Jun 30, 1943 2 · Aug 5–mid Aug 5 · Nov 6, 1943 3 · rotation (uncertain), c. Sep 1943 4 · by Nov (reasoned, not sourced) BANIKA Russell Is. · rear base NEW GEORGIA LANDINGS Rendova & Wickham Anchorage MUNDA POINT captured Aug 5, 1943 GUADALCANAL revisited · Sep 18 VELLA LAVELLA Barakoma airfield KAHILI AIRFIELD Bougainville · sweep target
Schematic map, not to navigational scale — coastlines are simplified shapes for orientation, not surveyed. Gold = documented movement; teal = the squadron's base-station rotation, real but not pinned to a clean single date or field in any source. Tap or hover any marker for details. Drawn from 01_Hack_Timeline.md, VMF213_Base_Location_Sept1943_Guadalcanal_vs_Banika.md, and 02_Dallas_Timeline.md.
Documented movement
Rotation — base station uncertain / reasoned
Squadron location or target

Full itinerary

#RouteNotesDateDistance
1 Banika → New Georgia Landings (Rendova & Wickham Anchorage) Landing support · F4U-1 Corsair Wed Jun 30, 1943 ~120 nm
2 New Georgia Landings → Munda Point Captured airfield comes online Aug 5–mid-Aug 1943 ~30 nm
3 Munda Point ↔ Guadalcanal Rotation · base station uncertain c. Sep 1943 (Sep 18 confirmed mission) ~178 nm
4 Munda Point → Vella Lavella (Barakoma) Forward node shifts · reasoned, not sourced c. Oct–Nov 1943 ~52 nm
5 Vella Lavella (Barakoma) → Kahili Airfield, Bougainville Fighter sweep · Hack shot down, survives Sat Nov 6, 1943 ~79 nm