UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GO TO WAR
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, and as Japanese armed forces moved into Asia and out into the Pacific, the United States War Department became increasingly concerned about the viability of its Pacific air routes. New routes from the airbase in Hawaii, primarily to Australia and then as far north as Manila needed to be established.
Aitutaki and Penrhyn, in the Cook Islands, were among six Pacific islands chosen to form one of these vital links. The relative safety of this route later earned its title “The Milk Run”.
The Amuri Field airstrip was completed by private contractors, the New Zealand Public Works and local labour by November 1942.
Initially the US Army stationed 850 men on Aitutaki in November 1942, but as it became apparent that the war was unlikely to spread this far south, most of these men were deployed further North. Eventually, only a "Token Garrison" of 12 US military personnel were to remain on Aitutaki to keep open the airfield and provide a weather service.
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