The Battle of Slater's Knoll was fought between Australian and Japanese forces on Bougainville Island during the Second World War. Part of the Bougainville campaign, the battle occurred as a force of about 3,300 Japanese from the Japanese 6th Division, including artillery and other supporting elements, launched a counterattack against the main Australian offensive which had been pushing south towards Buin, concentrating their attacks on Slater's Knoll near the Puriata River. The Australian troops belonged to the 7th Brigade, with the 25th Infantry Battalion being the most heavily engaged, although the 9th Infantry Battalion and the 61st Infantry Battalion also took part in the fighting.
The view forward from Australian positions on Slater's Knoll, Bougainville, 5 April 1945
Men from the 61st Infantry Battalion patrol along the Mosigetta River on Bougainville in March 1945 in the lead up to the Battle of Slater's Knoll.
Matilda II tanks of the Australian 2/4th Armoured Regiment advancing towards Slater's Knoll on 30 March 1945
Japanese killed during the final assault on Slater's Knoll are buried the day after the battle
The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied grand strategy in the South Pacific.
United States Army soldiers hunt Japanese infiltrators on Bougainville in March 1944.
Landing beaches near Cape Torokina
Landing craft circling off Cape Torokina
Antiaircraft gunners at Cape Torokina