27 October 1943
U.S. Forces Land on Bougainville
The American conquest of New Georgia in August left Bougainville as the only major Japanese-held in the Solomons. Its capture, combined with continuing Allied successes on New Guinea (see location #18) would leave the Japanese base at Rabaul isolated—it could then, Allied military planners hoped, be rendered ineffective through air attacks. However, the attack on Bougainville would not be easy, as it was defended by 33,000 Japanese soldiers.

The campaign against Bougainville began on October 27 with a diversionary operation, as paratroopers landed on the nearby island of Choiseul. On November 1 the 1 st Marine Corps landed at Torokina, on the western side of the island. The next several months saw intense fighting for control of the island, as the Japanese repeatedly launched counterattacks against U.S. positions near the coast. In late March 1944, however, Japanese forces retreated into the interior of the island, and while there was sporadic fighting on Bougainville thereafter, the remaining Japanese there were largely ignored, as MacArthur no longer considered them a threat.

Histories:
The Solomons Campaign
Bougainville
Northern Solomons

Campaign Maps:
CARTWHEEL Operations, 1943-1944
CARTWHEEL Operations, 1943-1944

Personal Accounts:
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with Robert MacDougall
Rutgers Oral History Archives of World War II: Interview with John Berglund

Photographs:
U.S. troops go over the side of a Coast Guard manned combat transport to enter the landing barges at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, as the invasion gets under way
U.S. Marine Raiders gathered in front of a Japanese dugout on Cape Totkina on Bougainville, Solomon Islands, which they helped to take
In an underground surgery room, behind the front lines on Bougainville, an American Army doctor operates on a U.S. soldier wounded by a Japanese sniper
U.S. Marine “Raiders” and their dogs, which are used for scouting and running messages, starting off for the jungle front lines on Bougainville
The Yanks mop up on Bougainville