PACIFIC ISLANDS-1943

Pacific Islands!

02/01/1943 The allies finally take Buna. 04/01/1943 The Japanese Navy orders the evacuation of Guadalcanal by the end of the month. 15/01/1943 US forces launch their final offensive on Guadalcanal. 18/01/1943 Australian troops capture Cape Killerton and Wye Point in Papua, New Guinea. 22/01/1943 Japanese forces are routed at Sanananda, putting paid to their resistance in Papua. On Guadalcanal, the Americans make important gains in the battle round Henderson field. 24/01/1943 Fighting in Papua is officially reported as over. 29/01/1943 Japanese aircraft attack Wau airfield. 06/02/1943 The Americans outflank the retreating Japanese on Guadalcanal. 08/02/1943 Japanese complete their evacuation of Guadalcanal. 31/03/1943 The Australian 9th Division march's through Melbourne watched by more than half a million people. 18/04/1943 US fighter aircraft in planned raid, intercept Admiral Yamamoto’s plane over Bougainville and shoot its down, killing the Admiral. 20/04/1943 The Americans announce that their airmen captured in the ‘Doolittle Raid’ on Tokyo were beheaded by Japanese. 29/06/1943 US Marines land on Nassau beach near Lae in New Guinea during Operation 'Cartwheel'. 30/06/1943 Operation 'Cartwheel' continues with the occupation of Rendova, north west of Guadalcanal. The Trobriand and Woodlark islands between Solomon's and New Guinea are also occupied. 02/07/1943 US troops land on New Georgia in the Solomon's. 03/07/1943 US troops from Nassau Beach link up with the Australians who are under heavy attack at Mubo in New Guinea. Operation 'Cartwheel' continues with further advances in the Solomon's. 28/07/1943 The Japanese garrison of 6,000 troops are secretly evacuated from Kiska in the Aleutians. 04/08/1943 U.S. bombers drop 153 tons of bombs on Kiska, Aleutian Islands, a new one-day record. 05/08/1943 US forces capture Munda airfield in New Georgia. 15/08/1943 34,436 US and Canadian troops land on Kiska to find the island evacuated. 17/08/1943 Heavy US air attacks on the Japanese airfields at Wewak on the North coast of New Guinea, with 215 Japanese planes destroyed for loss of just six USAAF aircraft. 21/08/1943 The Labour Party wins the Australian elections. 25/08/1943 US forces complete the capture of New Georgia in the Pacific. Japanese fall back to Francisco River where it runs into Bayern Bay on New Guinea while being pursued by Australian and American troops. 04/09/1943 The Australians 9th Division lands in force to the East of Lae on North coast of New Guinea. 05/09/1943 US paratroops land behind the Japanese positions at Lae, surrounding about 20,000 Japanese troops. 07/09/1943 Japanese aircraft bomb Nanumea, Ellice Island. 15/09/1943 The Australian 7th and 9th Divisions capture Lae in New Guinea after very heavy fighting. 22/09/1943 Troops of the 9th Australian Division land near Finschhafen in New Guinea. 27/09/1943 The first of two heavy air raids against Wewak are conducted by the 5th AAF, with 64 Japanese planes and seven ships destroyed. 01/10/1943 The Australian Government releases men from the army and munitions industry for reallocation within the Australian war effort. 02/10/1943 The Australians 9th Division captures Finschhafen on New Guinea. 12/10/1943 350 allied bombers hit the Japanese base at Rabaul in New Britain. The damage reported includes 120 planes destroyed. 13/10/1943 The whole of the New Georgia group of islands in the Solomon's are reported in allied hands. 14/10/1943 Jose P. Laurel, a distinguished pre-war Filipino statesman, takes office as “president” of the Philippines after being elected by a Japanese puppet “National Assembly” on Sept. 25. Surviving two assassination attempts by Filipino guerillas, Laurel’s government enjoyed little popularity. A general amnesty after the war spared him a treason trial. 17/10/1943 The US and Japan exchange 3,000 civilian prisoners in Goa. 26/10/1943 A feint landing on Choisseul in the Solomon's is conducted by US forces. Meanwhile Treasury Island is occupied. 01/11/1943 The US 3rd Marine Division lands at Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville Island in the Solomon's. 03/11/1943 Heavy USAAF air attacks begin on Rabaul. 05/11/1943 China's Wang Chingwei, Thailand's Wan Waithayakon, Manchukuo's Chang Chinghui, Burma's Adipadi Ba Maw, India's Subhas Chandra Bose, and the Philippines Jose Laurel attend the "Greater East Asia Family Conference" of November 5-6, 1943 in Tokyo. The Filipino delegate urges the Asian quislings to "extend all possible material and spiritual support to Japan." 06/11/1943 The Japanese land reinforcements North of Empress Bay. 20/11/1943 US Marines land on Makin and Tarawa atolls in Gilbert Islands, with fierce fighting reported. 25/11/1943 The US Navy Department announces that very few Japanese are left alive in the Gilbert Islands. On Tarawa, 1,090 Marines were killed and 2,193 wounded, with only 100 Japanese out of garrison of 4,836 being taken prisoner, with only 17 of them being soldiers. Sattelberg in New Guinea falls to the 9th Australian Division. 29/11/1943 The Australians chase the retreating Japanese towards Wareo in New Guinea. 08/12/1943 Australians troops capture Wareo in New Guinea. 15/12/1943 US troops land on New Britain near Cape Gloucester, to the South West of Rabaul. 26/12/1943 US Marines make further landings on New Britain, either side of Cape Gloucester. 29/12/1943 US Marines secure Cape Gloucester airfield on New Britain.