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Solomon Islands campaign
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Image:Solomon Islands Campaign.jpg Map of the Solomon Islands showing the Allied advance during 1943 and key air and naval bases.
Date January, 1942 – August 21, 1945 Location Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Result Decisive Allied victory
Combatants
United States Australia New Zealand United Kingdom Fiji<ref>Fijian troops were involved under the direction of the Australian and New Zealand militaries.</ref> Tonga Solomon Islands<ref>Guadalcanal and the rest of the Solomon Islands were technically under UK/Australian political control during World War II.</ref> Papua New Guinea<ref>Bougainville was politically part of Papua New Guinea which was under the administration of Australia.</ref>	Empire of Japan
Commanders
Chester Nimitz Douglas MacArthur William Sydney Marchant<ref>The British Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands protectorate and therefore nominally the commander of the Allied military forces in the Solomon Islands</ref> Robert Ghormley William Halsey, Jr. Alexander Vandegrift Alexander Patch Frank Jack Fletcher Richmond K. Turner John S. McCain, Sr. Eric Feldt<ref>Commanded the Coastwatchers.</ref> R. A. Row Roy Geiger Theodore S. Wilkinson Oscar Griswold Stanley Savige	Isoroku Yamamoto Shigeyoshi Inoue Nishizo Tsukahara Junichi Kusaka Gunichi Mikawa Raizo Tanaka Harukichi Hyakutake Noburo Sasaki
Casualties
4,500 dead (ground), 5,500 dead (naval), 600 dead (aircrew), 40+ ships sunk, 800 aircraft destroyed<ref>Numbers include personnel killed by all causes including combat, disease, and accidents. Ships sunk includes warships and auxiliaries. Aircraft destroyed includes both combat and operational losses.</ref>	71,000 dead (ground), 7,000 dead (naval), 2,000 dead (aircrew), 50+ ships sunk, 1,500 aircraft destroyed<ref>Numbers include personnel killed by all causes including combat, disease, and accidents. Ships sunk includes warships and auxiliaries. Aircraft destroyed includes both combat and operational losses.</ref>

Solomon Islands campaign
1st Tulagi – Guadalcanal – Blackett Strait – Cartwheel – Death of Yamamoto – New Georgia – Kula Gulf – Kolombangara – Vella Gulf – Horaniu – Vella Lavella – Naval Vella Lavella – Treasury Is. – Choiseul – Empress Augusta Bay – Cape St. George – Green Is. – 2nd Rabaul – Bougainville

Pacific Ocean campaign
Pearl Harbor – Wake Island – Doolittle Raid – Midway – Aleutian Islands – Guadalcanal – Solomon Islands – Gilbert and Marshall Islands – Marianas and Palau – Volcano and Ryūkyū Islands

The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the north, central, and southern islands of the Solomon Islands during the first six months of 1942. The Japanese occupied these locations and began the construction of several naval and air bases with the goals of protecting the flank of the Japanese offensive in New Guinea, establishing a security barrier for the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain, and to provide bases for interdicting the supply lines between the Allied powers of the United States and Australia and New Zealand.

The Allies, in order to defend their communication and supply lines in the South Pacific, support their counteroffensive in New Guinea, and to isolate the Japanese base at Rabaul, counterattacked the Japanese in the Solomons with landings on Guadalcanal in August, 1942. The Allied landings initiated a series of combined-arms battles between the two advesaries, beginning with the Guadalcanal campaign, continuing with several battles in the central and northern Solomons on and around New Georgia and Bougainville Islands, and ending with the surrender of Japan in August, 1945. The Solomon Islands campaign prevented the Japanese from successfully conquering New Guinea, isolated and neutralized Rabaul, destroyed much of Japan's sea and air power, and, along with Allied successes on and around New Guinea, opened the way for Allied forces to successfully recapture the Philippines and effectively cut off Japan from its crucial resource areas in the Netherlands East Indies.

Contents 1 See also 2 References 2.1 Books 2.2 Web 2.3 Notes

[edit] See also

• New Guinea campaign
• New Britain Campaign
• Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign

[edit] References

[edit] Books

• Altobello, Brian (2000). Into the Shadows Furious. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-717-6.
• Bergerud, Eric M. (1997). Touched with Fire : The Land War in the South Pacific. Penguin. ISBN 0-14-024696-7.
• Bergerud, Eric M. (2000). Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific. Boulder, CO, USA: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3869-7.
• Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 155750914X.
• D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 081595302X.
• Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
• Frank, Richard (1990). Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58875-4.
• Gailey, Harry A. (1991). Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign. Lexington, Kentucky, USA: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-9047-9.- neutral review of this book here:[1]
• Griffith, Brig. Gen. Samuel B (USMC) (1974). “Part 96: Battle For the Solomons”, History of the Second Wold War. Hicksville, NY, USA: BPC Publishing.
• Hoyt, Edwin P. (1990 (Reissue)). Glory Of The Solomons. Jove. ISBN 0515104507.
• Kilpatrick, C. W. (1987). Naval Night Battles of the Solomons. Exposition Press. ISBN 0682403334.
• Lord, Walter (1977 (Reissue 2006)). Lonely Vigil; Coastwatchers of the Solomons. Naval Institute Press. ISBN: 1591144663.
• 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). The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943, vol. 5 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-58305-7. Online views of selections of the book:[2]
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813071.
• Murray, Williamson, Allan R. Millett (2001). A War To Be Won : Fighting the Second World War. United States of America: Belknap Press. ISBN 0-674-00680-1.

[edit] Web

• Chapin, John C. (1997). TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons (English). World War II Commemorative series pp. 1. Marine Corps History and Museums Division. Retrieved on August 30, 2006. Also available at: [3]
• 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 on Oct 20, 2006.
• Gillespie, Oliver A. (1952). The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, 1939–1945; The Battle for the Solomons (Chapter 7). New Zealand Electronic Text Center. Retrieved on July 11, 2006.
• Hoffman, Jon T. (1995). FROM MAKIN TO BOUGAINVILLE: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War (brochure). WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES. Marine Corps Historical Center. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
• Lofgren, Stephen J.. Northern Solomons (English). The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II pp. 36. Retrieved on October 18, 2006. Same publication also located at: [4]
• Long, Gavni (1963). Volume VII – The Final Campaigns. Official Histories – Second World War. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on November 2, 2006.
• McCarthy, Dudley (1959). Volume V – South–West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau. Official Histories – Second World War. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on November 2, 2006.
• Melson, Charles D. (1993). UP THE SLOT: Marines in the Central Solomons (English). WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES pp. 36. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on Sept 26, 2006.
• Miller, John, Jr. (1959). CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul (English). United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific pp. 418. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. Retrieved on Oct 20, 2006.
• Mersky, Peter B. (1993). Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944 (English). Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on October 20, 2006.
• Odgers, George (1968). Volume II – Air War Against Japan, 1943–1945. Official Histories – Second World War. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on November 2, 2006.
• Rentz, John (1952). Marines in the Central Solomons (English). Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on 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 on 2006-10-18.
• WW2DB: Solomons Campaign

[edit] Notes

fr:Campagne des îles Salomon