Several units used Kila Drome in the early days, including P-40Es of the 49th FG, A-20As and B-25s of the 3rd Attack, and P-39s of the 8th FG. All shared this common ambulance however, seen parked against the operations hut at the Drome, complete with its camouflaged roof.

Sunday 1st November 1942 was a day when the ambulance would be needed, when a returning B-25C named Iraquois circled Kila Drome cutting its engines to signal a crash-landing. Ground crews ran up to the crest of the nearby hill to watch it put down.

From the diary of Adrian Bottge, a 3rd Attack crew-chief, who witnessed proceedings, and wrote in his diary that nite,

"he came into the runway with the wind. His nose-wheel hung loose but he was doing fine until he hit a pile of sand at the edge of the strip. He nosed over, doubled the nose under the fuselage - one engine burst into flame as he came to a stop. Not a pretty sight. Turned out that the pilot had been killed over the target and the gunner badly shot up. The co-pilot brought the ship in with hung bombs still in the bomb-bay. Only the bombardier survived the bullets, crash and fire".

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