Battle of the Treasury Islands
Part of the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War
Date 27 October[1]–12 November 1943[2] Location Treasury Islands in the Solomon Islands Result Allied strategic victory[3]
Belligerents
New Zealand  United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders and leaders
Robert A. Row George Fort
Strength
6,574 men[nb 1] 6 destroyers[1] 32 aircraft[1]	231+ men[nb 2] 49 planes[5]
Casualties and losses
226 casualties[nb 3]	223 dead 8 POW[nb 4]

The Battle of the Treasury Islands was a Second World War battle that took place between 27 October^[1] and 12 November 1943^[2] on the Treasury Islands group; part of the Solomon Islands^[6] as part of the Pacific Theatre. The Allied invasion of the Japanese held island group intended to secure Mono and Stirling Islands so that a radar station could be constructed on the former and the latter be used as a staging area for an assault on Bougainville. The attack on the Treasury Islands would serve the long term allied strategy of isolating Bougainville and Rabaul and the elimination of the 24,000 strong garrison in the area.^[7]

The invasion, to be conducted primarily by the New Zealand Army, supported by American forces, was codenamed Operation Goodtime.^[3] The New Zealand 8th Infantry Brigade Group,^[3] assigned to the United States' I Marine Amphibious Corps, launched the invasion of the Treasury Islands at 06:06 hours on 27 October.^[1] 3,795 men landed in the assault wave with the remainder of the Allied force landing in four waves during the following 20 days.^[4] The operation was the first amphibious assault launched by New Zealand troops since the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915.^[8]

On 1 November the flag was raised over the ruins of Falamae, the islands' capital, and civil administration was restored. Eleven days later the islands were declared clear of Japanese forces; although Japanese holdouts were sighted in the jungles into January 1944.^[2]

The operation, in conjunction with Operation Blissful, served to divert the attention of the Japanese Seventeenth Army from the next major Allied target in the Solomon Islands campaign.^[3] The success of the operation also helped to improve the planning of subsequent landings in the Pacific.^[2]

Notes[edit]

Footnotes

Citations

References[edit]

• Chant, Christopher (1986). The Encyclopedia of Code Names of World War II. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7102-0718-2. 
• Gillespie, Oliver A.; Kippenberger, Howard Karl (editor) (1952). The Pacific (PDF). The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Historical Publications Branch. 

External links[edit]

World War II portal

• Chapin, John C. (1997). "TOP OF THE LADDER: Marine Operations in the Northern Solomons". World War II Commemorative series. Marine Corps History and Museums Division. p. 1. Archived from the original on 13 October 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2006. 
• Hughes, Warwick; Ray Munro. "3rd NZ Division in the Pacific". Archived from the original on 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2006-10-18. 
• Miller, John, Jr. (1959). "CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul". United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. p. 418. Retrieved 20 October 2006. 
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. ISBN 0-7858-1307-1. 
• Rentz, John M. (1946). "Bougainville and the Northern Solomons". USMC Historical Monograph. Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved 18 October 2006. 
• Shaw, Henry I.; Douglas T. Kane (1963). "Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul". History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Archived from the original on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-18. 

Coordinates: 7°23′15″S 155°33′30″E / 7.38750°S 155.55833°E / -7.38750; 155.55833