Honiara & Guadalcanal Island

Guadalcanal Island with rainbow and moon, Solomon Islands

Next weekend is the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of the war in the Pacific. This week I’d like to feature some of my photos from Guadalcanal and The Slot, which were sites of famous battles between the United States and their Allies against the Japanese in 1942. The rainbow over Guadalcanal symbolizes the healing that followed the bloody history of the island and surrounding waters.

The following is a copy of some of the text from the war memorial at Honiara, Guadalcanal:
“Exploiting their successful attack upon Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, the Japanese struck at American, British, Chinese and Dutch Territories in the Pacific. Forced on the defensive, the United States nevertheless was determined to keep open the line of communications to Australia and to aid in its defense. Although delayed by stubborn American and Filipino resistance in the Philippines, the enemy, by mid-April 1942, had established bases in the New Guinea-Solomons area, thus threatening Australia itself. On 3 May the Japanese occupied Tulagi, a small island close to Florida Island in the Solomons group.

This brought on the Battle of the Coral Sea, 4-8 May 1942, a strategic victory for the allies in which the heretofore uninterrupted Japanese push southward was halted for the first time. Then came the Battle of Midway, 3-7 June, one of the most decisive battles in naval history. The Japanese suffered crippling losses in aircraft carriers and the balance of sea power in the Pacific turned in favor of the United States and her allies. When it was discovered in early July that the Japanese had begun construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal, US Forces undertook the first land offensive of the war.”

Addendum: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took place from 12-15 November 1942 after US and Allied forces had landed on Guadalcanal and seized the airfield, later called Henderson Field. The naval battle, which took place in The Slot between Guadalcanal and Tulagi Islands, turned back Japan’s last major attempt to dislodge Allied forces from Guadalcanal and Tulagi. The Solomon Islands are also where Kennedy Island (Kasolo Island) lies, which is the island where John F Kennedy aided his injured crew after PT-109 was rammed by the Japanese destroyer Amagiri.

Other photos from the Guadalcanal area can be seen here, and more will be posted after 'U' day: http://goo.gl/MH4mUF

30/11/13 http://www.allenfotowild.com

GuadalcanalThe SlotRussell IslandsTulagi IslandrainbowSolomon Islands