Bougainville campaign (1943–45)

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Bougainville campaign (1943–45)
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

United States Army soldiers hunt Japanese infiltrators on Bougainville in March 1944.
Date November 1, 1943 – August 21, 1945
Location 6°8′S 155°18′E / -6.133, 155.3Coordinates: 6°8′S 155°18′E / -6.133, 155.3
Bougainville, Territory of New Guinea (geographically part of the
Solomon Islands)
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
Flag of the United Kingdom Colony of Fiji		 Flag of Japan Empire of Japan
Commanders
Flag of the United States Roy Geiger
Flag of the United States Theodore Wilkinson
Flag of the United States Oscar Griswold
Flag of Australia Stanley Savige		 Flag of Japan Harukichi Hyakutake
Flag of Japan Masatane Kanda
Strength
126,000 troops,[1]
728 aircraft[2]		 42,000–45,000 troops,[3]
154 aircraft[2]
Casualties and losses
1,243 dead[4] 18,500–21,500 dead[5]
v • d • e
Bougainville campaign

(1943-45)
Cape Torokina – Empress Augusta Bay – Koromokina – Piva Trail – Coconut Grove – Piva Forks – Hellzapoppin & Hill 600A – Counterattack – Pearl Ridge – Genga River – Slater's Knoll – Hongorai River
v • d • e
Solomon Islands campaign
v • d • e
New Guinea campaign

The Bougainville campaign was a campaign of World War II that occurred from November 1, 1943 to August 21, 1945, on and around Bougainville Island in the South Pacific between the Empire of Japan and Allied forces. Bougainville, at that time, was part of the Australian territory of New Guinea, although geographically part of the Solomon Islands chain. The Bougainville campaign was, therefore, part of both the Allied New Guinea and Solomon Islands campaigns. Bougainville was occupied in 1942 by Japanese forces, who constructed naval air bases at Buka in the north and Buin in the south, as well as a naval ship base in the nearby Shortland Islands. The Japanese bases provided security for their major base at Rabaul, New Britain and supported their forces operating at other locations in the Solomon Islands.

As part of the latter stages of Operation Cartwheel, Allied forces intended to establish air bases on Bougainville to assist in the isolation and neutralization of Rabaul. Thus, in November 1943 United States Marine forces landed at Cape Torokina on Bougainville and established a beachhead within which the Allies constructed three airfields. The Marines were later replaced by U.S. Army soldiers in January 1944. The U.S. Army was replaced by Australian Militia troops in October 1944. The campaign ended with the surrender of Japanese forces in August 1945.

Contents

[edit] Campaign

[edit] November 1943 – November 1944

January 1944: U.S. Marine Raiders pose in front of a captured Japanese dugout at Cape Torokina on Bougainville.
January 1944: U.S. Marine Raiders pose in front of a captured Japanese dugout at Cape Torokina on Bougainville.

Allied operations to retake Bougainville from the Japanese 17th Army began with Landings at Cape Torokina by the U.S. Marine 3rd Division on November 1, 1943. The Allies intended to establish a beachhead around Cape Torokina, within which an airfield would be built. Allied forces did not plan, at this time, to try to capture the entire island of Bougainville from Japanese forces. An attempt by the Japanese Navy to attack the U.S. landing forces was defeated in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, on November 1 and November 2. A subsequent attempt by Japanese land forces to attack the Allied beachhead was defeated in the Battle of Koromokina Lagoon.
Hill 260 being shelled by Americal Division artillery, on March 19, 1944
Hill 260 being shelled by Americal Division artillery, on March 19, 1944
May 1, 1944. Members of the US 93rd Division on the Numa-Numa Trail, Bougainville
May 1, 1944. Members of the US 93rd Division on the Numa-Numa Trail, Bougainville

Protracted and often bitter jungle warfare followed, with many casualties resulting from malaria and other tropical diseases. U.S. Marine operations to expand the Allied beachhead resulted in the battles of Piva Trail, Coconut Grove, Piva Forks, and Hellzapoppin Ridge and Hill 600A. The Marines were later replaced by the U.S. Army's Americal Division.

The U.S. Army defended the beachhead against a major Japanese counterattack from March 9–March 17, 1944, at Hill 700, Cannon Hill and Hill 260. The counterattack was defeated with heavy losses for the Japanese, who then withdrew the majority of their forces into the deep interior and to the north and south ends of the island.

The Japanese, isolated and cut off from outside assistance, primarily concentrated on survival, including the development of farms throughout the island. The Americans were reinforced by the 93rd Infantry Division, the first African American infantry unit to see action in World War II. The Allies concentrated on constructing three airfields in the beachhead, from which they conducted fighter and bomber operations over Rabaul and other Japanese held islands in the South Pacific area. Air support over Bougainville was provided primarily by the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

[edit] November 1944 – August 1945

A Fijian medical orderly administers an emergency plasma transfusion during heavy fighting on Bougainville.
A Fijian medical orderly administers an emergency plasma transfusion during heavy fighting on Bougainville.

Between October and December 1944, the U.S. ground forces handed over operations on the island to the main body of the Australian II Corps, a Militia formation. The Australian 3rd Division and the 11th Brigade were on Bougainville, reinforced by the Fiji Infantry Regiment. The Australian 23rd Brigade garrisoned neighbouring islands. The second phase of the Allied campaign developed into three separate drives: in the north, it was planned that Japanese forces would be forced into the narrow Bonis Peninsula and contained; in the centre the seizure of Pearl Ridge would give the Australians control of the east-west thoroughfares and protection against further counterattacks, while also opening the way for a drive to the east coast; and the main campaign in the south, where the bulk of the Japanese forces were concentrated.

April 5, 1945: The view forward of Australian positions on Slater's Knoll, Bougainville; the soldier in the foreground is aiming an Owen submachinegun.
April 5, 1945: The view forward of Australian positions on Slater's Knoll, Bougainville; the soldier in the foreground is aiming an Owen submachinegun.

Major battles for the Australians included the Battle of Genga River (in the north) and the Battles of Slater's Knoll and Hongorai River (in the south).

Corporal Sefanaia Sukanaivalu of Fiji was posthumously awarded a Victoria Cross (VC) for his bravery at Mawaraka on June 23, 1944. During 1945, Corporal Reg Rattey (at Slater's Knoll) and Private Frank Partridge (at Ratsua) won Australia's last VCs of World War II and the only VCs awarded to militia soldiers.

Combat operations on Bougainville ended with the surrender of Japanese forces on August 21, 1945.

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[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Shaw, Isolation of Rabaul, p. 246, Lofgren, Northern Solomons, p. 27, & Gailey, Bougainville, p. 191. Number includes 96,000 U.S. and 30,000 Australian troops.
  2. ^ a b Shaw, Isolation of Rabaul, pp. 185–86.
  3. ^ Rottman, Japanese Army, pp. 70–72 (45,000) and AWM, Australia in the War of 1939–1945[specify] (42,000). Gailey, Bougainville, p. 211 claims that there were 65,000 total Japanese personnel in and around Bougainville.
  4. ^ Shaw, Isolation of Rabaul, p. 281, Lofgren, Northern Solomons, p. 32, and Gailey, Bougainville, p. 210. Breakdown of deaths by country: 727 U.S. and 516 Australia.
  5. ^ Rottman, Japanese Army, pp. 70–72, AWM, Australia in the War of 1939–1945[specify], and Gailey, Bougainville, p. 211. Figure includes deaths from all causes: combat, disease, starvation, and accident. The Australians counted 21,000 Japanese survivors on Bougainville upon the surrender of Japanese forces at the end of World War II. If Gailey's figure of 65,000 Japanese troops originally on Bougainville is accurate, then the Japanese casualty figures would be far higher.

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[edit] External links