Bougainville Campaign

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°S 155.3°E / -6.133; 155.3Coordinates: 6°8′S 155°18′E / 6.133°S 155.3°E / -6.133; 155.3 Bougainville, Territory of New Guinea (geographically part of the Solomon Islands) Result Allied victory Belligerents  United States  Australia  New Zealand Colony of Fiji  Empire of Japan Commanders Roy Geiger Theodore Wilkinson Oscar Griswold Stanley Savige Harukichi Hyakutake Masatane Kanda Strength 126,000 troops,[1] 728 aircraft[2] 45,000–65,000 troops,[3] 154 aircraft[2] Casualties and losses 1,243 dead[4] 18,500–21,500 dead[5]

v • d • e Bougainville Campaign 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 – Porton Plantation

v • d • e Solomon Islands campaign 1st Tulagi – Guadalcanal – Blackett Strait – Cartwheel – 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.

v • d • e New Guinea campaign Rabaul (land battle) – Rabaul (1942 air raids) – Bougainville action – Salamaua-Lae Invasion – Mo – Coral Sea – Kokoda Track – Milne Bay – Buna-Gona – Wau – Bismarck Sea – Salamaua-Lae campaign – Cartwheel – Wewak raid – Finisterres – Huon Peninsula – Bougainville – Rabaul (1943 air raids) – New Britain – Admiralties – Emirau – Take Ichi – Western New Guinea

Hill 260 being shelled by Americal Division artillery, on March 19, 1944

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

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

The Bougainville campaign occurred during World War II from November 1, 1943 to August 21, 1945, on and around Bougainville Island in the South Pacific, between forces of the Empire of Japan and the Allies. Bougainville, at that time, was part of the Australian territory of New Guinea, although geographically it was 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.

Overview

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. Estimates of Japanese strength on Bougainville at the opening of the campaign vary widely in range from 42,000 to 65,000 Army, Navy, and labor personnel.^[3] In November 1943 United States Marine forces landed at Cape Torokina on Bougainville and established a beachhead within which the Allies eventually constructed three airfields. The invasion force was later replaced by U.S. Army soldiers in January 1944, which was replaced by Australian Militia troops in October 1944. The campaign ended with the surrender of Japanese forces in August 1945.

Campaign

November 1943 – November 1944

Allied operations to retake Bougainville (operation Cherry Blossom) from the Japanese 17th Army began with landings at Cape Torokina by the U.S. Marine 3rd Division, I Marine Amphibious Corps, on November 1, 1943. The Allies established a beachhead around Cape Torokina for the construction of an airfield within fighter range of Rabaul. Allied forces did not plan at this time to try to capture the entire island of Bougainville from Japanese forces. An attempt by the Imperial Japanese Navy to attack the U.S. landing forces was defeated by the US Navy 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.

Between November 6 and November 19, 1943, I Marine Amphibious Corps landed the remaining regiment of the 3rd Marine Division and the U.S. Army's 37th Infantry Division to expand the beachhead. Protracted and often bitter jungle warfare followed, with many casualties resulting from malaria and other tropical diseases. Except for patrol skirmishes, all of the combat to expand the beachhead occurred in the Marine sector. Operations resulted in the Battle for Piva Trail, Battle of the Coconut Grove, Battle of Piva Forks, and the Battle of Hill 600A.

In November and December the Japanese emplaced field artillery on the high ground around the beachhead, concentrated in a group of hills along the Torokina River overlooking the eastern perimeter. They shelled the beachhead, targetting the airstrips and the supply dumps. The 3d Marine Division extended its lines to include the hills in a series of operations that lasted from December 9 through December 27. One hill, "Hellzapoppin Ridge", was a natural fortress three hundred feet long, with sharp slopes and a narrow crest that overlooked much of the beachhead. The Japanese constructed extensive artillery positions on the reverse slopes using natural and artificial camouflage. The 21st Marines attacked Hellzapoppin Ridge but were driven off on December 18. Several air strikes missed the narrow ridge completely. Finally, co-ordinated air, artillery, and infantry attacks resulted in the capture of Hellzapoppin Ridge on Christmas Day.

On December 15, 1943, the I Marine Amphibious Corps was replaced by the Army's XIV Corps and on December 28, the 3rd Marine Division by the Americal Division. The XIV Corps defended the beachhead against a major Japanese counterattack from March 9 to March 17, 1944, at Hill 700, Cannon Hill, and Hill 260. The counterattack was defeated with heavy losses for the Japanese army, which then withdrew the majority of its force into the deep interior and to the north and south ends of Bougainville.

On April 5, 1944, the Americal Division's 132nd Infantry Regiment, after establishing patrol sweeps along Empress Augusta Bay, successfully launched an attack to capture the Japanese-held village of Mavavia. Two days later, while continuing a sweep for enemy forces, the Regiment encountered prepared enemy defenses, where they destroyed some twenty Japanese pillboxes using pole charges and bazookas. Later, the 132nd, together with elements of the Fiji Defence Force, was tasked with securing the heights west of Saua River. The Regiment and its allies captured Hills 155, 165, 500, and 501 in fierce fighting that lasted until April 18, when the last of the Japanese defenders were killed or driven off.^[6]

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 multiple airfields in the beachhead, from which they conducted fighter and bomber operations over Rabaul, Kavieng and other Japanese-held bases in the South Pacific area. Air support over Bougainville was provided largely by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the US Marine Corps aviation squadrons, and the USAAF, under the control the Air Solomons Command ("AIRSOLS").

Australian intelligence officers estimated after studying records that 8,200 Japanese troops were killed in combat during the American phase of operations, and 16,600 more died of disease or malnutrition.^[7]

November 1944 – August 1945

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.^[8] The Australian 3rd Division and the 11th Brigade were on Bougainville, reinforced by the Fiji Infantry Regiment. The 23rd Brigade garrisoned neighbouring islands. The Australians determined that Japanese forces on Bougainville, now numbering approximately 40,000, still had approximately 20% of their personnel in forward positions and that although understrength, were organized in combat-capable formations, including the 38th Independent Mixed Brigade and the 6th Division. The Australian II Corps adopted an aggressive posture to overwhelm and reduce or destroy these forces.^[7]

The final phase of the Allied campaign, opening combat as early as November 29 and the offensive on December 30, 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.^[9]

Major battles for the Australians included the Battle of Genga River and the landing at Porton (in the north) and the Battles of Slater's Knoll and Hongorai River (in the south). By August 1945 Australian operations had killed 8,500 Japanese troops while disease and malnutrition killed another 9,800. The surrender of 23,500 troops and laborers was received at the end of the war.^[7]

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 Bougainville on 21 August 1945. The Empire surrendered in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.

Namesake

The U.S. Navy escort aircraft carrier USS Bougainville (CVE-100), in commission from 1944 to 1946, was named for the Bougainville campaign.

References

Sources

Further reading

• Hungerford, T.A.G.. (1952). The Ridge and the River. Sydney: Angus & Roberston. Republished by Penguin, 1992; ISBN 0-143-00174-4.

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bougainville campaign (1943-45)

• Bougainville at Digger History