Feb 16, 2012
@ 3:31 PM

periclitatus:

“U.S. Army troops clamber into assault boats assembling for the landings on Bougainville, the largest of the Solomon Islands. Part of the effort to neutralize The Japanese base at Rabaul 220 miles away, the landing was spearheaded by the Third Marine Division on November 1, 1943, at Cape Torokina. Thought the Japanese had some 17,000 troops on southern Bougainville alone, they had not considered swampy Cape Torokina a likely target, and the landing was slightly opposed. Work began on an airfield, and U.S. Army troops were brought ashore. Futile enemy attacks on the perimeter began immediately, the last occurring in March. Australian forces took over the fighting on the island until the Japanese surrendered in 1945.”