Solomon Islands campaign
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{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Solomon Islands campaign
|partof=the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] of [[World War II]]
|image=[[Image:Solomon_Islands_Campaign.jpg|300px]]
|caption=Map of the Solomon Islands showing the Allied advance during 1943 and key air and naval bases.
|date=January 1942 – [[August 21]], [[1945]]
|place=[[Solomon Islands|British Solomon Islands]]/[[Territory of New Guinea]], [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]]
|result=Decisive [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] victory
|combatant1={{flag|United States|1912}}<br>
{{flag|Australia}}<br>
*{{flagicon|Australia}} [[Territory of New Guinea|New Guinea]]<ref>[[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] and [[Buka]] were politically part of the Australian Territory of New Guinea.</ref><br>
{{flag|New Zealand}}<br>
{{flag|United Kingdom}}<br>
* {{flagicon|Fiji}} [[Colony of Fiji]]<ref>Fiji was under British rule and Fijian troops were attached to the New Zealand and Australian militaries.</ref><br>
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Solomon Islands|Solomon Is.]]<ref>Guadalcanal and the rest of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (which excluded Bougainville and Buka) was technically under UK political control during World War II.</ref><br>
* {{flag|Tonga}}<ref>Tonga was an independent, British [[protected state]] during World War II.</ref>
|combatant2={{flagicon|Japan|alt}} [[Empire of Japan]]
|commander1=[[Chester Nimitz]]<br>[[Douglas MacArthur]]<br>[[William Sydney Marchant]]<ref>The British Resident Commissioner of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and therefore nominally the commander of the Allied military forces in the Solomon Islands</ref><br>[[Robert Ghormley]]<br>[[William Halsey, Jr.]]<br>[[Alexander Vandegrift]]<br>[[Alexander Patch]]<br>[[Frank Jack Fletcher]]<br>[[Richmond K. Turner]]<br>[[Eric Feldt]]<ref>Commanded the [[Coastwatchers]].</ref><br>[[R. A. Row]]<br>[[Roy Geiger]]<br>[[Theodore S. Wilkinson]]<br>[[Oscar Griswold]]<br>[[Stanley Savige]]
|commander2=[[Isoroku Yamamoto]]<br>[[Shigeyoshi Inoue]]<br>[[Nishizo Tsukahara]]<br>[[Jinichi Kusaka]]<br>[[Gunichi Mikawa]]<br>[[Raizo Tanaka]]<br>[[Hitoshi Imamura]]<br>[[Harukichi Hyakutake]]<br>[[Minoru Sasaki]]
|strength1=
|strength2=
|casualties1=4,500 dead (ground),<br>5,500 dead (naval),<br>600 dead (aircrew),<br>40+ ships sunk,<br>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>
|casualties2=71,000 dead (ground),<br>7,000 dead (naval),<br>2,000 dead (aircrew),<br>50+ ships sunk,<br>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>
}}
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{{Campaignbox Solomons}}
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{{Campaignbox Pacific Ocean}}
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The '''Solomon Islands campaign''' was a major [[military campaign|campaign]] of the [[Pacific War]] of [[World War II]]. The campaign began with [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] landings and occupation of several areas in the [[Solomon Islands|British Solomon Islands]] and [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]], in the [[Territory of New Guinea]], 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 providing bases for interdicting supply lines between the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] powers of the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]].
The Allies, in order to defend their communication and supply lines in the [[Pacific Ocean|South Pacific]], support their counteroffensive in New Guinea, and isolate the Japanese base at Rabaul, counterattacked the Japanese in the Solomons with landings on [[Guadalcanal]] and surrounding islands in August 1942. These 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]].
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 [[Tokyo Express|"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]]".
Allied success in the Solomon Islands campaign prevented the Japanese from cutting Australia and New Zealand off from the U.S. [[Operation Cartwheel]] — the Allied grand strategy for the Solomons and [[New Guinea campaign]]s — launched on [[June 30]], [[1943]], isolated and neutralized Rabaul and destroyed much of Japan's sea and air supremacy. This opened the way for Allied forces to [[Philippines campaign (1944–45)|recapture the Philippines]] and cut off Japan from its crucial resource areas in the [[Netherlands East Indies]].
The Solomons campaign culminated in the often bitter fighting of the [[Bougainville campaign (1943–45)]], which continued until the end of the war.
==See also==
*[[New Guinea campaign]]
*[[New Britain Campaign]]
*[[Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign]]
*[[AirSols]]
==Notes==
<div class="references-small"><references/></div>
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Altobello
| first = Brian
| authorlink =
| year = 2000
| chapter =
| title = Into the Shadows Furious
| publisher = Presidio Press
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-89141-717-6
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Bergerud
| first = Eric M.
| authorlink =
| year = 1997
| chapter =
| title = Touched with Fire : The Land War in the South Pacific
| publisher = Penguin
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-14-024696-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Bergerud
| first = Eric M.
| authorlink =
| year = 2000
| chapter =
| title = Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific
| publisher = Westview Press
| location = Boulder, CO, USA
| id = ISBN 0-8133-3869-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Brown
| first = David
| authorlink =
| year = 1990
| title = Warship Losses of World War Two
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| location =
| id = ISBN 1-55750-914-X
}}
*{{cite book
| last = D'Albas
| first = Andrieu
| authorlink =
| year = 1965
| title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
| publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Drea
| first = Edward J.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 1998
| chapter = An Allied Interpretation of the Pacific War
| title = In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army
| publisher = University of Nebraska Press
| location = Nebraska
| id = ISBN 0-8032-1708-0
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Dull
| first = Paul S.
| authorlink =
| year = 1978
| chapter =
| title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Frank
| first = Richard
| authorlink = Richard B. Frank
| year = 1990
| title = Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
| publisher = Random House
| location = New York
| id = ISBN 0-394-58875-4
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Gailey
| first = Harry A.
| authorlink =
| year = 1991
| chapter =
| title = Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign
| publisher = University Press of Kentucky
| location = Lexington, Kentucky, USA
| id = ISBN 0-8131-9047-9
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Griffith
| first = Brig. Gen. Samuel B (USMC)
| authorlink =
| year = 1974
| chapter = Part 96: Battle For the Solomons
| title = History of the Second Wold War
| publisher = BPC Publishing
| location = Hicksville, NY, USA
| id =
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Hoyt
| first = Edwin P.
| authorlink =
| year = 1990 (Reissue)
| chapter =
| title = Glory Of The Solomons
| publisher = Jove
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-515-10450-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Kilpatrick
| first = C. W.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 1987
| chapter =
| title = Naval Night Battles of the Solomons
| publisher = Exposition Press
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-682-40333-4
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Long
| first = Gavin
| authorlink = Gavin Long
| year = 1963
| url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=23
| title = Volume VII – The Final Campaigns
| series = [[Australia in the War of 1939–1945]]
| location = Canberra
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]
| accessdate = 2006-11-02
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Lord
| first = Walter
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 1977 (Reissue 2006)
| chapter =
| title = Lonely Vigil; Coastwatchers of the Solomons
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| location =
| id = ISBN 1-59114-466-3
}}
*{{cite book
| last = McCarthy
| first = Dudley
| authorlink =
| year = 1959
| url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=21
| title = Volume V – South–West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau
| series = [[Australia in the War of 1939–1945]]
| location = Canberra
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]
| accessdate = 2006-11-02
}}
*{{cite book
| last = McGee
| first = William L.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| year = 2002
| chapter =
| title = The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)
| publisher = BMC Publications
| location =
| id = ISBN 0-9701678-7-3
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Morison
| first = Samuel Eliot
| authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
| coauthors =
| year = 1958
| chapter =
| title = The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943'', vol. 5 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]]
| publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]]
| location = Boston
| id = ISBN 0-316-58305-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Morison
| first = Samuel Eliot
| authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
| coauthors =
| year = 1958
| chapter =
| title = Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier'', vol. 6 of ''[[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]]
| publisher = Castle Books
| location =
| id = 0785813071
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Murray
| first = Williamson
| coauthors = Allan R. Millett
| year = 2001
| title = A War To Be Won : Fighting the Second World War
| publisher = Belknap Press
| location = United States of America
| id = ISBN 0-674-00680-1
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Odgers
| first = George
| year = 1968
| url = http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=27
| title = Volume II – Air War Against Japan, 1943–1945
| series = [[Australia in the War of 1939–1945]]
| location = Canberra
| publisher = [[Australian War Memorial]]
| accessdate = 2006-11-02
}}
== External links ==
*{{cite web
| last = Browning
| first = Robert M., Jr.,
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1999
| month =
| url = http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/h_pacwar.html
| title = The Coast Guard and the Pacific War
| format =
| work = U. S. Coast Guard Photography
| pages =
| publisher = U.S. Coast Guard
| accessdate = 2006-12-07
| accessyear =
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Chapin
| first = John C.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1997
| month =
| url = http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003141-00/index.htm
| title = TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons
| format =
| work = World War II Commemorative series
| pages = 1
| publisher = Marine Corps History and Museums Division
| accessdate = August 30
| accessyear = 2006
}} Also available at: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-NSol/index.html]
*{{cite web
| last = Craven
| first = Wesley Frank
| authorlink =
| coauthors = James Lea Cate
| date =
| year =
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html
| title = Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944
| format =
| work = The Army Air Forces in World War II
| pages =
| publisher = U.S. Office of Air Force History
| accessdate = Oct 20
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Gillespie
| first = Oliver A.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1952
| month =
| url = http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Paci-_N84545.html
| title = ''The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, 1939–1945''; The Battle for the Solomons (Chapter 7)
| format =
| work =
| pages =
| publisher = New Zealand Electronic Text Center
| accessdate = July 11
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Hoffman
| first = Jon T.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1995
| month =
| url = http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003130-00/index.htm
| title = ''FROM MAKIN TO BOUGAINVILLE: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War''
| format = brochure
| work = WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES
| pages =
| publisher = Marine Corps Historical Center
| accessdate = 2006-08-29
| accessyear =
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Lofgren
| first = Stephen J.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year =
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-NSolomons/index.html
| title = Northern Solomons
| format =
| work = The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
| pages = 36
| publisher =
| accessdate = October 18
| accessyear = 2006
}} Same publication also located at: [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/northsol/northsol.htm]
*{{cite web
| last = Melson
| first = Charles D.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1993
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-CSol/index.html
| title = UP THE SLOT: Marines in the Central Solomons
| format =
| work = WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES
| pages = 36
| publisher = History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
| accessdate = Sept 26
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Miller
| first = John, Jr.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1959
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Rabaul/index.html
| title = CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul
| format =
| work = United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific
| pages = 418
| publisher = Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army
| accessdate = Oct 20
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Mersky
| first = Peter B.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1993
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Aces/index.html
| title = Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942-1944
| format =
| work = Marines in World War II Commemorative Series
| pages =
| publisher = History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
| accessdate = October 20
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Rentz
| first = John
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year = 1952
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-CSol/USMC-M-CSol-5.html
| title = Marines in the Central Solomons
| format =
| work =
| pages =
| publisher = Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
| accessdate = May 30
| accessyear = 2006
}}
*{{cite web
| last = Shaw
| first = Henry I.
| authorlink =
| coauthors = Douglas T. Kane
| date =
| year = 1963
| month =
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/II/index.html
| title = Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul
| format =
| work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
| pages =
| publisher =
| accessdate = 2006-10-18
| accessyear =
}}
* [http://www.ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=8 WW2DB: Solomons Campaign]
*{{cite web
| last = U.S. Army Center of Military History
| first =
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| date =
| year =
| month =
| url = http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm#contents
| title = Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area, Volume II - Part I
| format =
| work = Reports of General MacArthur
| pages =
| publisher =
| accessdate = 2006-12-08
| accessyear =
}}- 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]].
{{Commons|Solomon Islands campaign}}
{{World War II}}
[[Category:Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Solomon Islands 1942-45]]
[[Category:History of the Solomon Islands]]
{{WWII-stub}}
[[bg:Кампания при Соломоновите острови]]
[[fr:Campagne des îles Salomon]]
[[ja:ソロモン諸島の戦い]]
[[ta:சாலமன் தீவுகள் தொடர் சமர்]]