Solomon+Islands+and+New+Guinea

//“The Japanese represented themselves and were widely accepted as liberating the islanders from white misrule." H. Laracy// __**1942:**__ Early 1942: Japanese landings and __occupation__ of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville in New Guinea. 23 January: Rabaul, (New Britain north east of Papua New Guinea mainland) is taken - First Australian territory to fall to the Japanese. - Rabaul becomes the largest Japanese base in the South West Pacific. 7 March: Salamaua and Lae in New Guinea are taken by Japanese - gained control of north-easter section. 30 March: Began occupatino of olomon islands - Buka - north May: Japanese took island of Tulgai - Battle of the Coral Sea - established a seaplane base here before beginning construction of airbase on Guadalcanal 22 July: Japanese forces land at Buna and Gona -north coast of Papua. 7 August: US 1st marine Division lands on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. August 1942: 16 000 Allied infantry (primarily US marines) made an amphibious (land and water) attack to capture the airfield. - escalating battle of attrition on the island, sea and sky . August 1942: landings on Guadalcanal and surrounding islands. - landings initiated a series of combined-arms battles between the two adversaries - beginning with the Guadalcanal campaign and continuing with several battles in the central and northern Solomons, on and around New Georgia. September: Autstralian forces push Japanese advance across Kokoda Track September 1942: Japanese marines attack strategic Royal Australian Air Force base at Milne Bay near eastern tip of New Guinea -first outright defeat on Japanese land forces since 1939. 5 September: Japanese withdraw from Milne Bay, on eastern tip of Papua. 9 December: Australian forces take the Japanese beachhead at Gona. Late 1942: Japanese retreat along Kokoda Track in highlands of New Guinea.  - Later fleet battles (involving heavier ships and daytime carrier battles) resulted in a stretch of water near Guadalcanal becoming known as  // " Ironbottom Sound"  //   from the severe losses to both sides-only US Navy was able to quickly replace and repair its losses. The Allies created a combined air formation, Cactus Air Force, establishing air superiority during the daylight hours. The Japanese then resorted to nightly resupply missions which they called "Rat Transportation" (and the Allies called "the Tokyo Express") through New Georgia Sound ("The Slot"). Many pitched battles were fought trying to stop Japanese supplies from getting through. So many ships were lost by both sides that the area became known as " Ironbottom Sound ". 

__**1943:**__ 22 January 1943: Australian and American forces capture Buna and Sanananda-ending Japanese campaign in Papua. 9 February: Japanese withdrawal from Guadalcanal and US marines gain full control of whole island. February 1943: Allied victory  on Guadalcanal. prevented Japanese from cutting Australia and New Zealand off from U.S. Operation Cartwheel — Allied grand strategy for Solomons and New Guinea campaigns June 30, 1943 , campaign launched - isolated and neutralized Rabaul and destroyed much of Japan's sea and air supremacy. This opened the way for Allied forces to recapture the Philippines and cut off Japan from its crucial resource areas in the Netherlands East Indies.

At Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the U.S. Marines forged the tactics that would win the Pacific: landing elite troops, supported by ground-attack aircraft and naval gunfire, in amphibious assaults. The Japanese, overextended and undersupplied, resisted suicidally on Guadalcanal until their reluctant February 9, 1943, evacuation of 12,000, all who survived of the tens of thousands sacrificed in the struggle for that island. ALLIED 4,500 dead (ground), 5,500 dead (naval), 600 dead (aircrew), 40+ ships sunk, 800 aircraft destroyed || JAPANESE 71,000 dead (ground), 7,000 dead (naval), 2,000 dead (aircrew), 50+ ships sunk, 1,500 aircraft destroyed || __CONSEQUENCES:__ Americans now can use island it and its airfield to advance against more northerly Japanese positions. Sea and air routes between Australia and US remained secure. Japanese lost aircraft, ships, men-especially highly trained pilots-irreplaceable.
 * Casulties and Losses



Map of the Solomon Islands showing the Allied advance during 1943 and key air and naval bases