| Operation codename: Cherry Blossom |
... Allied strategists attention therefore focused on Bougainville, the northern vestige of Solomon Islands. According to an estimation on Bougainville and adjacent islets had been located about 40 000 men of Japanese Army troops and some 20 000 members of the Navy troops. Most were concentrated in the southern part of the island of Bougainville, about 6000 on the island of Buka, situated north of him, and over 5000 on the island Shortland south of Bougainville. (Miloš Hubáček - Ofenziva v Pacifiku, Mladá fronta, 2000)
Article on Czech Wikipedia
Article on English Wikipedia| Scenario in dates: |
| June 4, 1941: |
Occupied Netherlands - The last German emperor, Wilhelm II, dies in Doorn. Wilhelm has lived in exile in the Netherlands since the defeat of Germany at the end of the First World War and his unscrupulous ambitions were one of the reasons for its unleashing. He thus lived to see the victory over France in 1940, which he had once tried in vain to achieve, and to which he immediately telegraphed congratulations to Hitler. At the same time, he survived by 20 years his first wife, Augusta Victoria Schleswig-Holstein, whose name will be borne by one of the encounters of the war in the Pacific near the island of Bougainville - the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. |
| May 27, 1942: |
South Pacific - The infantry division Americal is activated on the New Caledonia Island as the only US division built outside the United States. In spite of the fact that the US Army divisions are numbered numerically, at the request of its first commander, Major General Alexander Patch, who formed it from three individual National Guard regiments sent hurriedly from the United States after Pearl Harbor attack, accepts the name resulting from the abbreviation "American, New Caledonian Division". The division will later fight in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and mop-up operations in the Philippines, but will be most notoriously known for the massacre in the village of My Lai during the war in Vietnam. |
| October 5, 1942: |
In the Solomon Islands - American planes from the carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) attack Japanese vessels off Bougainville with little success. |
| February 12, 1942: |
Guadalcanal - The first 12 new F4U-1 Corsair fighters arrive on Henderson Field. Due to the current difficulties in operating on aircraft carriers, aircrafts of this type are assigned to the Marine Corps for land based operations. |
| February 14, 1943: |
Bougainville - A raid by American B-24 Liberator bombers covered by P-38, P-40 and F4U fighters to Kahili Airfield turns into a "St. Valentine´s Day Massacre". The Japanese Zero fighter defense shots down 8 American aircraft, including two F4Us, when a single Japanese fighter is lost. The action is the first recorded combat engagement of an F4U Corsair fighter. |
| April 26, 1943: |
From Washington - New plans are approved for the Solomon Islands operatoins (code named "Cartwheel"). Admiral Halsey´s South Pacific Area forces are to advance through New Georgia and Bougainville. MacArthur´s Southwest Pacific Area is to continue its advance northwest along the coast of New Guinea until he and Halsey can link up to isolate the Japanese bases at Rabaul and Kavieng. |
| June 16, 1943: |
Bougainville - during a photo reconnaissance mission for Allied invasion maps, a B-17 "Old 666" bomber is attacked by Japanese fighters over Buka Airport. Though the lone plane faces a huge superiority of 17 attacking A6M Zeros, Ki-46 Dinahs and Ki-45 Nicks, after a sustained three-quarter-hour struggle, the invaders give up with 3 aircraft lost and the badly damaged bomber lands on New Guinea base with one dead and four wounded crew members but with a fully accomplished task. Commander Pilot Jay Zeamer and gunner Joseph Sarnoski will be awarded the highest US honor, the Medal of Honor, and the rest will be awarded the second highest, Distinguished Flying Cross. The mission and crew thus become the most decorated in American history. |
| July 17, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - Americans conduct a large air raid on Bougainville. Shipping offshore and airfields between Buin and Faisi are targeted. Japanese destroyer Hatsuyuki is sunk. |
| October 18, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - There is a heavy air raid on the Japanese air base at Buin on Bougainville. |
| October 27, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - New Zealand troops land on the Treasury Islands. Soldiers of the 8th Brigade (General Row) meet no opposition on Stirling Island and only a few Japanese on Mono Island. |
| October 28, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion is landed by sea from destroyers at Voza on Choiseul Island (Operation Blissful). They engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the intended attack on Bougainville. |
| October 29, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion on Choiseul continue to engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the intended attack on Bougainville. |
| October 30, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion on Choiseul continue to engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the intended attack on Bougainville. |
| October 31, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion on Choiseul continue to engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the intended attack on Bougainville. |
| November 1, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 3rd Marine Division (General Turnage) lands on Bougainville, in Empress Augusta Bay at Cape Torokina. By the end of the day 14,000 American troops are ashore. Task Force 31 (Admiral Wilkinson) provides transport, Task Force 39 (Admiral Merrill) provides support with 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers and Task Force 38 (Admiral Sherman) with the carriers USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) conduct raids against Buka and the Buna airfields. The local garrison of about 200 Japanese are overcome quickly. However, the island is defended by the Japanese 17th Army (General Hyakutake) with 40,000 troops and 20,000 naval personnel concentrated in the south. After unsuccessful air attacks on the landings the Japanese dispatch Admiral Omori from Rabaul in New Britain with 4 cruisers and 6 destroyers. Nearby a marine battalion occupies Puruata Island after defeating Japanese resistance. Meanwhile, the US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion on Choiseul continues to engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the attack on Bougainville. |
| November 2, 1943: |
In the Bismarck Archipelago - The Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain is raided by about 160 land-based aircraft of the US 5th Air Force. About 20 planes on each side are lost. Three ships are sunk in the harbor. |
| November 2, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - US Task Force 39 detects the approach of the Japanese cruiser squadron led by Admiral Omori (steaming from Rabaul in New Britain Island to Bougainville), shortly after midnight. In the engagement that follows the Japanese lose light cruiser Sendai and destroyer Hatsukaze and most of the other ships are damaged. The Americans suffer damage to light cruiser USS Denver (CL-58) and destroyer USS Foote (DD-511). However, the Japanese force abandons its mission. On Bougainville, the US 3rd Marine Division expands its beachhead. During the day, Japanese aircraft attack the ships of US Task Force 39 without success. Aircraft from US Task Force 38 raid Buna and Buka. Meanwhile, the US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion on Choiseul continues to engage Japanese forces. This is a diversion from the attack on Bougainville. |
| November 3, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US 2nd Marine Parachute Battalion withdraws from Choiseul. |
| November 4, 1943: |
In the Bismarck Archipelago - A new Japanese squadron led by Admiral Kurita arrives in Rabaul, New Britain Island. The Japanese force consists of 10 cruisers and 10 destroyers. American reconnaissance sights the squadron en route and Task Force 38 prepares to attack with its carrier aircraft. |
| November 5, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, the US 3rd Marine Division defeats a counterattack by the Japanese 23rd Regiment. Few of the large Japanese garrison (17th Army) oppose the landing because it is believed to be another diversion. |
| November 5, 1943: |
In the Bismarck Archipelago - US Task Force 38 (Admiral Sherman) with the carriers USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) launches an attack on the Japanese naval squadron led by Admiral Kurita. A total of 97 American planes attack, resulting in damage to 4 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers. Only 10 American planes are lost. Later in the day, land-based Liberator bombers of the US 5th Air Force strike Rabaul and the Japanese squadron. |
| November 7, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - US Task Force 38 with the carriers USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) is attacked by 100 Japanese aircraft. The air attack fails to achieve any hits on the carriers. Meanwhile, on Bougainville Island, a Japanese battalion is landed to the north of the beachhead held by the US 3rd Marine Division. A battle ensues. The Japanese reinforce their garrison on Buka Island. |
| November 9, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, the US 3rd Marine Division advances inland from their beachhead at Cape Tarokina Torokina in Empress Augusta Bay. An encounter battle ensues with the main body of the Japanese 23rd Regiment on the jungle tracks. Meanwhile, a second wave of landings begin with the arrival of most of the US 37th Division. |
| November 11, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, the Japanese 23rd Regiment is push back by the US 3rd Marine Division. |
| November 13, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, the third wave of the US landing force comes ashore. This includes the rest of the US 37th Infantry Division and the 21st Marine Regiment. Task Force 39 (Admiral Merrill) provides cover. The light cruiser USS Denver (CL-58) is hit by an aerial torpedo during the landing operation. Some fighting takes place on the Numa-Numa trail. |
| November 14, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville the American divisions push back the Japanese along the jungle tracks. A few American tanks are available for support. |
| November 20, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - American divisions continue to advance inland to Bougainville along the Numa-Numa trail, parallel to the Piva River. |
| November 24, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - Japanese forces mount a small attack on the American divisions on Bougainville. The US marines hold. |
| November 25, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - During the night, 5 Japanese destroyers, returning to Rabaul from carrying troops to Bougainville, are surprised by 5 American destroyers led by Captain Burke off Cape St George. In a three-hour battle, destroyers Makinami, Yugiri and Onami are sunk without any American loss. This battle definitely shows that the original Japanese dominance in the night´s battles has ended and that the Americans are now on the top due to radar. |
| December 4, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - The US divisions on Bougainville receive further reinforcements and extend their perimeter. |
| December 9, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, a recently constructed American airfield becomes operational at Cape Torokina. |
| December 10, 1943: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, the first American aircraft arrive at the Cape Torokina airfield. American divisions are gradually extending their perimeter. |
| January 9, 1944: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, American engineers complete a second airfield at Piva and the first plane lands. |
| March 8, 1944: |
In the Solomon Islands - Japanese forces attack the American beachhead on Bougainville. The US airfields at Piva are shelled by the Japanese and some of the American bombers are withdrawn. Japanese infantry infiltrate the positions of the US 37th Division. The attacking troops are most from the Japanese 6th Division (General Kanda) of 17th Army (General Hyakutake). |
| August 24, 1945: |
In the Solomon Islands - On Bougainville, Japanese commander, Lt. General Kanda is still awaiting instruction from Tokyo. |
| September 12, 1945: |
San Francisco - the St. Francis Hotel holds a party of former members of the VMF-214 Marine Squadron, known as the "Black Sheep", to welcome his commander, Major "Pappy" Boyington, who has returned from Japanese captivity. The coverage of the party by Life magazine will mark the first time that the magazine had ever showed people consuming alcohol. One of the celebrities is also the fighter ace Christopher Magee, who will soon go into the fight again. In 1948 he will take part as a volunteer in the Israeli War of Independence, in which he will complete in České Budějovice, at that time paradoxically in already communist Czechoslovakia, a retraining course for Messerschmitt Bf 109G machines, resp. Avia S-199. |
| December 29, 1945: |
United States - Discharged Navy Lieutenant James A. Michener returns to San Francisco aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kwajalein (CVE-98) as part of a repatriation cruise. During the war, he traveled throughout the South Pacific Ocean on various assignments, and at its end was employed by the Navy as a naval historian. Although he never took part in the fighting, thanks to his perceptive, cognitive and literary abilities, he got to know and at the same time describe the war, its participants, the local environment, life and local residents like few others. Now he has more than a year of struggle to publish his book Tales of the South Pacific, which will soon be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and even filmed twice, in 1958 and in 2001. Although he will publish his first work at the age of 40, it will be the beginning of a rich writing career full of quality bestsellers. |
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| Literature sources: |  | Šnajdr, Miroslav: Airacobra v amerických službách : USAAF 1941-1944 (Aircobra in US service), Votobia, 1996, Olomouc |  | Moskin, J. Robert: The U.S. marine corps story, Laser - books, 1997, Plzeň |  . | Swanston, Alexander & Malcolm: The Historical Atlas of World War II, Columbus, 2007, Praha | | . | Šnajdr, Miroslav: Flying Marines, Akcent, 2015, Třebíč |  | Hall, R. Cargill: Lightning over Bougainville, Mustang, 1997, Plzeň |  | Hrbek, Jaroslav, Hrbek Ivan: Námořní válka vrcholí (War at sea culminates), Naše vojsko, 1995, Praha |  | Hara, Tameči: Teikoku Kaigun No Saigo / Japanese Destroyer Captain, Omnibooks, 2013, Neratovice |  | Hubáček, Miloš: Ofenzíva v Pacifiku (Offensive in Pacific), Mladá fronta, 2000, Praha | Khol, Miroslav: Gregory Pappy Boyington, HPM No. 6/1995
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