Drive on Munda Point

Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

U.S. Army soldiers from the 172nd Infantry Regiment cross a creek during the drive towards Munda Point in July 1943

Date	2–17 July 1943
Location	New Georgia, Solomon Islands
Result	Limited tactical gains by Allied forces

Belligerents

United States

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

William Halsey
Millard Harmon
Richmond K. Turner
John H. Hester
Theodore S. Wilkinson
Leonard F. Wing
Oscar Griswold
J. Lawton Collins

Minoru Sasaki
Genjiro Hirata

Strength

30,000

9,000

Casualties and losses

100 killed
1,700 injured or sick
1,000 evacuated for combat stress

Unknown

New Georgia Campaign

Viru Harbor Rendova Wickham Munda drive Enogai Counterattack Bairoko Munda Point

Solomon Islands campaign

Land 1st Tulagi Guadalcanal Cartwheel I-Go Vengeance New Georgia Vella Lavella Treasury Islands Choiseul Rabaul Bougainville Green Islands Naval Blackett Strait Kula Gulf Kolombangara Vella Gulf Naval Vella Lavella Empress Augusta Bay Horaniu Cape St. George Karavia Bay

The Drive on Munda Point was an offensive by mainly United States Army forces against Imperial Japanese forces on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands from 2–17 July 1943. The Japanese forces, mainly from the Imperial Japanese Army, were guarding an airfield at Munda Point on New Georgia that the U.S. wished to capture.

The U.S. offensive made small gains because of limited combat experience by its soldiers, poor leadership by inexperienced US Army officers, harsh terrain and conditions on New Georgia, and effective defensive measures by the Japanese. The U.S. soldiers experienced an unusually high number of severe cases of combat stress reaction. The drive on Munda was halted on 17 July when the Japanese launched a large, ultimately unsuccessful, counterattack on the American forces. The Americans eventually secured the airfield in the Battle of Munda Point.

Notes

References

Altobello, Brian (2000). Into the Shadows Furious. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-717-6.
Feldt, Eric Augustus (1946 (original text), 1991 (this edition)). The Coastwatchers. Victoria, Australia: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-014926-0. Check date values in: |date= (help)
Hammel, Eric M. (1999). Munda Trail: The New Georgia Campaign, June-August 1943. Pacifica Press. ISBN 0-935553-38-X.
Hayashi, Saburo (1959). Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Marine Corps. Association. ASIN B000ID3YRK.
Horton, D. C. (1970). Fire Over the Islands. ISBN 0-589-07089-4.
Lord, Walter (2006) [1977]. Lonely Vigil; Coastwatchers of the Solomons. New York: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-466-3.
McGee, William L. (2002). The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII). BMC Publications. ISBN 0-9701678-7-3.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813071.
Radike, Floyd W. (2003). Across the Dark Islands: The War in the Pacific. ISBN 0-89141-774-5.
Rhoades, F. A. (1982). A Diary of a Coastwatcher in the Solomons. Fredericksburg, Texas, U.S.A.: Admiral Nimitz Foundation.
Rottman, Gordon L.; Dr. Duncan Anderson (consultant editor) (2005). Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43. Oxford and New York: Osprey. ISBN 1-84176-870-7.

External links

Craven, Wesley Frank; James Lea Cate. "Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944". The Army Air Forces in World War II. U.S. Office of Air Force History. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
Dyer, George Carroll. "The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner". United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
Hoffman, Jon T. (1995). "New Georgia" (brochure). FROM MAKIN TO BOUGAINVILLE: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War. Marine Corps Historical Center. Retrieved 2006-11-21.
Lofgren, Stephen J. Northern Solomons. The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II. United States Army Center of Military History. p. 36. CMH Pub 72-10. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
Melson, Charles D. (1993). "UP THE SLOT: Marines in the Central Solomons". WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. p. 36. Retrieved September 26, 2006.
Mersky, Peter B. (1993). "Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944". Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
Miller, John, Jr. (1959). "CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul". United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. p. 418. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
Rentz, John (1952). "Marines in the Central Solomons". Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved May 30, 2006.
Shaw, Henry I.; Douglas T. Kane (1963). "Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, Volume II - Part I. Reports of General MacArthur (United States Army Center of Military History). 1994. Retrieved 2006-12-08. - Translation of the official record by the Japanese Demobilization Bureaux detailing the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy's participation in the Southwest Pacific area of the Pacific War.