Kolombangara

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Kolombangara seen from space (false color). Mount Veve is clearly visible.

New Georgia Islands with Kolombangara at centre-left

Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands. Almost perfectly round in shape and about 15 km across, the island is a stratovolcano that reaches an altitude of 1,770 meters at Mount Veve. The island forms part of the southern boundary of the New Georgia Sound; to the northwest the Vella Gulf separates it from Vella Lavella and Gizo, while to the southeast New Georgia lies across the Kula Gulf.

Kolombangara is heavily forested, with few inhabitants.

During World War II the island and the waters around it were the scene of fighting; the Japanese used an airstrip on some flat ground at Vila on the south shore of the island, and in May 1943 based several military units on the island, under the command of Major General Noboru Sasaki, in an attempt to establish a defense line through the Central Solomons. Naval battles nearby included the battle of Kula Gulf and battle of Kolombangara. The most famous battle was the mission to intercept the Tokyo Express supply convoy which resulted in the ramming and subsequent rescue of John F. Kennedy and the crew of his PT-109 by Solomon Islander scouts. Coastwatcher A.R. Evans spotted the explosion from his post at the top of the mountain and had dispatched the natives to find them. After destroyers succeeded in sinking the supply ships 3 nights later and isolating the garrison of 12,400 there, US forces were able to "leapfrog" Kolombangara to land on Vella Lavella to the west. The Japanese evacuated Kolombangara between 23 September and 4 October 1943.

In January 1944 a detachment of 1 officer and 6 enlisted men from the 350th Engineer General Service Regiment stationed at Munda, established a vegetable farm on the Japanese abandoned airstrip at Vila. The British government furnished 16 male natives to help with the project. With seeds acquired through the Red Cross, many vegetables were sent back to the base hospital to supplement the dehydrated meals served the recuperating veterans. The main item was watermelons that both natives and men enjoyed. The natives were taught how to save the seeds and replant them in their own gardens

Directly to the south is the island of Gizo, upon which the Western provincial capital is located. Kolombangara has two notable settlements, Ringgi and Mongga, the former being the larger.