Bougainville counterattack

Bougainville counterattack Part of Bougainville Campaign, Pacific War A US Army 75mm Howitzer firing at a Japanese position in March 1944 Date 8–25 March 1944 Location Bougainville Island Result Allied victory Belligerents Empire of Japan United States Colony of Fiji Commanders and leaders Harukichi Hyakutake Oscar Griswold Units involved 17th Army XIV Corps Strength 15,400–19,000 men 62,000 men Casualties and losses At least 3,500 killed 5,500 wounded[1] 263 killed[2]

The Bougainville counterattack (also known as the "Second Battle of Torokina"^[3]) was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville Island during the Pacific War. Aimed at the US lodgment around Torokina on the west coast of the island, where the Americans had landed in early November 1944, the Japanese attack, launched initially by the 6th Division, was timed based on maximum availability of rations and supplies following the severance of the Japanese line of communication with Rabaul.^[3] Lacking air support which had been diverted to make up for losses on Truk,^[3] the offensive began on 8 March 1944 after months of preparations, but was repulsed by United States Army forces in fighting which lasted until the 25th of the month. The Allied defenders greatly outnumbered the Japanese force, and inflicted severe casualties on the attackers while taking relatively few losses. This battle was the final major Japanese offensive in the Solomon Islands campaign, though fighting continued on Bougainville until the end of the war in August 1945.

While Japanese forces had a paper strength of between 15,400 and 19,000 men, only 9,548 were directly committed to the fighting.^[3] Of these at least 3,500 were killed and another 5,500 wounded.^[1] Against this, US forces lost 263 killed.^[2]

References

Citations

1. James (2012), p. 155
2. Miller (1959), p. 377
3. Shindo (2016), p. 62.

Works consulted

• James, Karl (2012). The Hard Slog: Australians in the Bougainville Campaign, 1944–45. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107017320.
• Miller, John, Jr. (1959). CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Department of the Army. OCLC 569056928. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
• Shindo, Hiroyuki (2016). "Holding on to the Finish: The Japanese Army in the South and Southwest Pacific, 1944–45". In Dean, Peter J. Australia 1944–45: Victory in the Pacific. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. pp. 51–76. ISBN 978-1-107-08346-2.

• Willoughby, Charles A. (editor in chief) (1966). Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area Volume II – Part I. Reports of General MacArthur. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 187072014. Retrieved 9 April 2012.