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US NAVY & US MARINE CORPS WORLD WAR
II COMMEMORATIVE COMMITTEE
A service of Navy Chief of Information
Office (703)695-3161/DSN 225-3161.
The Solomon Islands campaign began
with the taking of Guadalcanal in December 1942. In February 1943 the
Russell Islands fell, and the New Georgia group followed in August 1943.
At the end of 1943, the campaign reached its goal when American troops
gained a solid foothold on the island of Bougainville. The Russells, New
Georgia and Bougainville were objectives because of their value as air
bases.
Objective: Isolate Rabaul
The objective of the Solomon Islands
campaign was to cut off Japan's major forward air and naval base at
Rabaul, on the island of New Britain. Rabaul was the hub of Japanese air
power in the south Pacific--a stopping point for planes coming from New
Guinea in the southwest and Truk, the home of the Japanese Combined
Fleet, in the south central Pacific.
Bougainville was key to
neutralizing Rabaul.
Preliminary Attacks
The first attack on
Bougainville occurred Aug. 15, 1943. Eight Corsairs from Marine Fighter
Squadron 214 (later known as the Black Sheep) flew up from the Russell
Islands to strafe the Kahili airfield during American amphibious
landings on the island of Vella Lavella. The lightning strike--a
surprise so complete the Japanese did not have time to shoot
back--damaged aircraft and refueling equipment on the ground and
forestalled a night attack on the American amphibious force. The Solomon
Islands air defenses (AirSols), including units from the Navy, Marine
Corps, Army and Royal New Zealand Air Force, made many air strikes in
October on Bougainville and nearby islands.
Although some strikes were designed to
keep the enemy guessing as to the Marines' intended landing point, most
were planned to reduce air opposition to the Bougainville landings when
they finally occurred. Diversions Two diversionary amphibious landings
were made the night of Oct. 27-28: the 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion
landed on Choiseul; and New Zealand's 8th Brigade, together with Navy
Seabees (U.S. Naval Construction Battalions), made an unopposed landing
on the Treasury Islands on Oct. 27. Both operations served their primary
purpose of drawing Japanese troops away from Bougainville, but the
positions gained in the Treasuries, including valuable Blanche Harbor,
were held and strengthened to provide staging for the landings on
Bougainville.
The Marines left Choiseul by landing
craft after a week of harassing Japanese troops and damaging barge and
supply bases. D-Day: Nov. 1, 1943 Admiral William F. Halsey, Commander
South Pacific, ordered Task Force 39 (which included four cruisers and
the eight destroyers of Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Squadron 23),
under Rear Admiral A.S. Merrill, to bombard airfields on Buka and Bonis
northwest of Bougainville. He intended the bombardments to keep the
enemy off-balance and prevent air harassment of the landing force. The
task force then steamed more than 200 miles to strike at the Shortland
Islands, while Rear Admiral F.C. Sherman's Task Force 38 took over the
bombardment of Buka, eliminating the threat from those airfields. The
actual landing by the 3rd Marine Division at Empress Augusta Bay took
place at dawn Nov. 1.
The bay, located at some distance from
the heavily defended airfields at either end of the island, had what
appeared to be the most suitable beaches for a landing. The plan was to
establish a beachhead, then bring in supplies and equipment to build a
landing strip for fighters. Invasion forces consisted of 14,321 troops
(including the 1st Marine Dog Platoon with their 24 Dobermans and German
shepherds) in 12 transports, preceded by a minesweeper group. Destroyer
Squadron 45, four minelayers and two salvage tugs provided further
support. The landing met with several obstacles. The Japanese defense of
the beaches was stronger than anticipated.
The 40,000 troops on the island had
been reported stationed mainly around the airfields, and aerial
reconnaissance photos did not reveal the extensive system of bunkers in
the jungles above the beaches. The Marines who landed west of the mouth
of the Koromokina River encountered steep slopes and shoals on which
more than 80 of their amphibious craft foundered. Those landing east of
the Koromokina were caught in crossfire from machine guns on the
offshore islet of Puruata and on Cape Torokina east of the beach. A
small contingent of Marines knocked out the gun emplacement on the cape
after it had destroyed or damaged 14 landing craft; the 3d Marine
Raiders captured Puruata.
The landing force drove away the rest
of the Japanese defenders, while the dog platoon, moving ahead of the
main body, sniffed out snipers along the trails of the bog-ridden
jungle. In spite of the resistance, and two Japanese air assaults
launched from Rabaul bases during the day (which were driven off by
AirSols fighters), the Marines succeeded. By nightfall, all 14,000
troops, together with 6,200 tons of fuel, rations, and ammunition, were
landed along a 200-yard perimeter. Battle of Empress Augusta Bay The
evening of the landing, Army reconnaissance aircraft reported that a
large Japanese surface force was heading for Bougainville. Task Force 39
intercepted it about 2:30 the following morning 45 miles west of Empress
Augusta Bay.
The American ships, executing
maneuvers at breakneck speeds in the darkness to avoid Japanese
long-range torpedoes, sank two enemy ships after three hours of heavy
fire. With two other ships damaged in collisions while trying to avoid
American torpedoes, the scattered Japanese chose to retreat. The
American force had only two ships hit, both of which sustained moderate
damage.
The Japanese Response
The initial Japanese reaction to the
Bougainville landing was to send a force of 19 ships to strengthen
Rabaul. However, a Nov. 5 air attack from Task Force 38 heavily damaged
seven cruisers and two destroyers, prompting the withdrawal of the
cruisers and eliminating worries about surface attacks on the
Bougainville amphibious forces.
Even so, the night of Nov. 6-7, four
Japanese destroyers eluded the Americans and landed 475 troops west of
the Marine beachhead. The Japanese hoped to catch the Marines between
them and the other troops on the island, but the enemy forces never
coordinated their actions. The Marines routed out the counter-landing
detachment after two days of artillery barrages. Fewer than 100 Japanese
escaped into the jungle; the rest were killed. The Marines sustained
under 50 casualties. Another punishing attack from Task Force 38 on
Rabaul Nov. 11 cost the Japanese 68 fighters and three ships.
Nevertheless, Japanese carrier air groups from Rabaul made repeated
attacks on the American landing force and the U.S. Navy ships, which
continued to ferry in reinforcements, supplies and munitions.
The strikes did little damage to the
American forces, but the Japanese lost so many planes--121 out of
173--that the remaining carrier-based squadrons were withdrawn Nov. 13.
By that time, the Americans had landed nearly 34,000 troops and over
23,000 tons of cargo on Bougainville, widened the beachhead 7,000 yards,
and moved 5,000 yards inland through dense, difficult mangrove swamps.
Even though two airfields were under construction and the Marines were
expanding their perimeter in search of a site to build a bomber strip,
the Japanese army commander on Bougainville still believed that the
landing was a feint. He continued to think that the primary targets were
Buka to the north and the Buin section of the island to the southeast.
Thus, no Japanese forces were withdrawn from either end of the island to
root out the American invasion, and the Americans had the opportunity to
solidify their positions.
Holidays in the Solomons On
Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, Burke's DesRon 23 fought the Battle of Cape
St. George, sinking three Japanese vessels out of five sent with troops
to reinforce Buka. The American ships suffered no hits at all. The same
day, the Marines pushing inland along the Piva River virtually destroyed
the 23rd Imperial Infantry in the Battle of Piva Forks. This was the
last major Japanese ground resistance on Bougainville. On Christmas Day,
the Army's Americal Division arrived on Bougainville to relieve the 3rd
Marine Division. Marine Major General R.J. Mitchell, ComAirSols, moved
his headquarters to Bougainville to direct the final air campaign
against Rabaul, only 220 miles away. Within a month, the base at Rabaul
was of no further use to the Japanese.
American troops continued to occupy
Bougainville, and contain dwindling Japanese troops, until relieved by
Australian II Corps troops in late 1944. The Australians attempted to
clear the entire island of Japanese, incurring heavy casualties. The end
of the Pacific war brought an end to action on Bougainville.
Campaign
Results
The Bougainville campaign remains one of the most resounding
successes of the war in the Pacific in terms of the smooth coordination
between the Navy and Marine Corps. The capture of Bougainville
successfully isolated Rabaul. In the fight for Bougainville, the
Japanese expended more of their air units than they could afford to
lose. The Bougainville airstrips constructed at Torokina and Piva by
Seabees and engineers made possible fighter-escorted bomber attacks
against Rabaul, and other Japanese bases on New Ireland and New
Britain.
In December 1943, AirSols began a
massive attack on Rabaul. The ensuing two months of constant air
strikes, made possible by the possession of Bougain-ville, caused the
Japanese to withdraw. The capture of Bougainville caused Marine
casualties of 423 dead and 1,418 wounded.
Sources Gailey, Harry A. Bougainville. Lexington: The
University Press of Kentucky, 1991. Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of
United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. VI. Breaking the
Bismarcks Barrier. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1950. Simmons, Brig.
Gen. Edwin H., USMC (Ret.). The United States Marines: The First Two
Hundred Years. New York: Viking Press, Inc., 1976. Shaw, Henry I., Jr.,
and Major Douglas T. Kane. History of U.S. Marine Operations in World
War II. Vol. I. Isolation of Rabaul. Historical Branch, Headquarters,
U.S. Marine Corps, 1963. Van der Vat, Dan. The Pacific Campaign: World
War II, the U.S.- Japanese Naval War, 1941 - 1945. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1991. |
