Battle of the Green Islands

Troops from New Zealand disembark from U.S. Landing Craft Infantry ship LCI-444 to occupy Green Island on February 16, 1944.

Date	January 29 - February 27, 1944
Location	Green Islands in the South Pacific
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

Commanders

H.E. Barrowclough

Strength

5,806^[1]

120-150^[2]

Casualties and losses

13 killed^[3]

120 killed,
12 aircraft destroyed^[4]

v • d • e Solomon Islands campaign

1st Tulagi – Guadalcanal – Blackett Strait – Cartwheel – Operation Vengeance – New Georgia – Kula Gulf – Kolombangara – Vella Gulf – Horaniu – Vella Lavella – Naval Vella Lavella – Treasury Is. – Choiseul – Bougainville – Rabaul air raids – Cape St. George – Green Is.

The Battle of the Green Islands was fought from January 29 to February 27, 1944, between Japan and Allied forces from the New Zealand 3rd Division and the United States (U.S.). The Green Islands, located between Bougainville and New Ireland, were part of the Australian Territory of New Guinea. The Allied forces invaded several islands and recaptured them from heavily outnumbered Japanese forces.

Once secured, the Green Islands became a forward base for the U.S. South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command (SCAT), which supplied material and mail to combat soldiers and evacuated the wounded. It also became home to United States Marine Corps fighters and bombers which participated in the allied effort to isolate the Japanese bases on Rabaul and Kavieng^[5]. The base's first commander was Lt. Richard M. Nixon, later President of the United States.[1]

[edit] Notes

^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 173. Troops included 4,242 New Zealanders and 1,564 U.S.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 178.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 188. Breakdown of deaths: New Zealand- 10, U.S.- 3.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 188. A few members of the Japanese garrison may have escaped to Rabaul.
^ Tillman Corsair, p. 67.

Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813071.
Tillman, Barrett (2001). Corsair - The F4U in World War II and Korea. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-944-8.

Chapin, John C. (1997). TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons (English). World War II Commemorative series 1. Marine Corps History and Museums Division. Retrieved on August 30, 2006. Also available at: [2]
Gillespie, Oliver A. (1952). The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, 1939–1945: IV: The Capture of the Green Islands. Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
Hughes, Warwick; Ray Munro. 3rd NZ Division in the Pacific. Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
Miller, John, Jr. (1959). CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul (English). United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific 418. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. Retrieved on Oct 20, 2006.
Rentz, John M. (1946). Bougainville and the Northern Solomons (English). USMC Historical Monograph. Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.