Bougainville counterattack
The Bougainville counterattack, also known as the Second Battle of Torokina, was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island during the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Japanese attack began on 8 March 1944 after months of preparation and was repulsed by United States Army forces in fighting which lasted until 25 March. The attack was hampered by inaccurate intelligence and poor planning and was pushed back by the well-prepared Allied defenders, who greatly outnumbered the Japanese force. The Japanese suffered severe casualties, while Allied losses were light.
A U.S. Army 75 mm pack howitzer firing at close range at a Japanese position on Hill 260 in March 1944
U.S. Marine Corps fighters and bombers at Torokina Airfield, December 1943
Soldiers from the 24th Infantry Regiment plotting defensive positions in March 1944
The Japanese counterattack on Bougainville between 9 and 17 March 1944. The U.S. perimeter is marked in blue and Japanese troop movements are shown in red.
Landings at Cape Torokina
The Landings at Cape Torokina, also known as Operation Cherryblossom, took place at the beginning of the Bougainville campaign in World War II. The amphibious landings were carried out by elements of the United States Marine Corps in November 1943 on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific, as part of Allied efforts to advance towards the main Japanese base around Rabaul under Operation Cartwheel. Coming in the wake of Allied successes at Guadalcanal and in the central Solomons, the landings were intended to secure a beachhead with the purpose of establishing several bases from which to project air and naval power closer towards Rabaul, in an effort to neutralize the large Japanese force that had been established there.
1st Battalion, 3rd Marines engaged during the landing at Cape Torokina.
Landing beaches near Cape Torokina
US Marines board landing craft in Empress Augusta Bay
A Japanese plane plunges into the sea ahead of the light cruiser USS Columbia, as she steams in column with other cruisers during the attack on Bougainville, 1–2 November 1943.