Guadalcanal, Southern Solomon Islands • August 7, 1942 On this date in 1942 some 11,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Division assaulted the northcentral beaches of Guadalcanal, the largest of the nearly 1,000 tropical islands in the Solomon Islands chain (see map below). Guadalcanal’s 2,000 Japanese defenders were caught by complete surprise. The amphibious Marine…
Rabaul, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea • April 13, 1943 On this date in 1943 the headquarters of Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto on Rabaul, the important Japanese garrison on New Britain Island in the Bismarck Archipelago, sent a coded military radio signal to various Japanese commands in the Western South Pacific. The message listed the dates…
Tarawa, Gilbert Islands • November 20, 1943 On this date in 1943 the Alligator LVT-1, or Landing Vehicle Tracked‑1, made its first combat debut. Actually, the LVT‑1 saw use in landings on Guadalcanal and the adjacent islands of Tulagi, Tanambogo, and Gavutu over a year earlier, in August 1942, but only as a logistical support…
Cape Torokina, Bougainville, Northern Solomon Islands • November 1, 1943 Guadalcanal, the largest island in the southern Solomon Islands, was the site where the string of Japanese conquests, starting in Janunary 1942, finally ran its course. The bloody fight for Guadalcanal (August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943) was a recognized turning point in the Pacific War. That…
Cape Torokina, Bougainville, Territory of New Guinea • November 1, 1943 Guadalcanal, the largest island in the southern Solomon Islands, was the site where the string of Japanese conquests, starting in Janunary 1942, finally ran its course. The bloody fight for Guadalcanal (August 7, 1942 to February 9, 1943) was a recognized turning point in…