Between 9 March and 5 April 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, forces of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

occupied the islands of Buka and Bougainville in the South Pacific. At that time these islands were part of the Australian-administered

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the nam ...

. A platoon of Australian commandos from the 1st Independent Company was located at Buka Airfield when the Japanese landed but did not contest the invasion. The Japanese invaded in order to construct naval and air bases to provide security for their major base at

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

and to support strategic operations in the Solomon Islands. After the occupation of Buka and Bougainville, the Japanese began constructing a number of airfields across the island. The main airfields were on Buka Island, on the nearby Bonis Peninsula and at Kahili and Kieta, while naval bases were also constructed at Buin in the south and on the nearby

Shortland Islands The Shortland Islands is an archipelago of Western Province, Solomon Islands, at . The island group lies in the extreme north-west of the country's territory, close to the south-east edge of Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The largest isl ...

. These bases allowed the Japanese to conduct operations in the southern Solomon Islands and to attack the Allied lines of communication between the US and the

Southwest Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the D ...

. In November 1943, allied forces landed on the west coast of Bougainville as part of the latter stages of

Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the ...

, and began building air bases to assist in the isolation and neutralization of Rabaul.

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

s landed at Cape TorokinaKeogh 1965, p. 414. and established a

beachhead A beachhead is a temporary line created when a military unit reaches a landing beach by sea and begins to defend the area as other reinforcements arrive. Once a large enough unit is assembled, the invading force can begin advancing inland. The ...

within which the Allies eventually constructed three airfields. The invasion force was later replaced by

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

soldiers in January 1944, and these were replaced by

Australian Militia The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

troops in October 1944.Maitland 1999, p. 108. The campaign ended with the surrender of Japanese forces in August 1945.Keogh 1965, p. 420.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buka-Bougainville Battles and operations of World War II involving Papua New Guinea Conflicts in 1942 1942 in Papua New Guinea South West Pacific theatre of World War II Territory of New Guinea Autonomous Region of Bougainville Buka, Papua New Guinea March 1942 events April 1942 events Battles of World War II involving Australia Battles of World War II involving Japan Battles of World War II involving the United States Military history of Australia during World War II