The plantation included the Atkinson family home, as well as copra drying sheds and living quarters for workers.

A work party of 517 British prisoners of war from various artillery regiments captured after the Battle of Singapore were transported to the island under the command of Lt. Col. John Bassett to build an airfield.

[4] This base was the intended destination from Rabaul of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto when his inspection flight was intercepted and shot down on April 18, 1943, near the later site of Buin, Bougainville Island, killing him.

In 2007, the Solomon Islands Government agreed to an arrangement for the sale of all World War II relics at the community of Balalae in Shortlands to an international group.

The agreement allowed for the removal of the remains of 11 Japanese planes that had been in place since World War II.