Bougainville, 1943-1945 : The Forgotten Campaign

The 1943 invasion of Bougainville and the naval battles during the campaign for the island contributed heavily to the defeat of the Japanese in the Pacific war. A maze of swamps, rivers, and rugged hills overgrown with jungle, Bougainville, largest and northernmost of the Solomon Islands, afforded the Allies a strategic site for airbases from which to attack the Japanese bastion of Rabaul. Black American troops were used for the first time during this campaign, with mostly positive results, although criticism of one black company led to black soldiers in the Pacific theater being relegated to non-combat roles for the remainder of the war. Harry A. Gailey presents the only comprehensive account of the long and bitter fighting that took place on that all-but-forgotten island, revealing its crucial role in the outcome of the war in the Pacific.