🔗===================>> The WWII Japan > South & Southwest Pacific Submodule <<===============🔗
​prior WWII Japan section:  Japan Overreaches ​               next WWII Japan sections:  New Guinea     Solomon Is.
​South & Southwest Pacific subpages:  South & SW Pacific Setting     Securing Australia​     Isolating Rabaul        
  –––––––––––––––––––––– WWII Japan - South & Southwest Pacific Submodule –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
 bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Japan > South & Southwest Pacific, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 5 Jul 2025

===== Phase =====             Southwest Pacific, New Guinea    South Pacific, Solomon Is.
1 - Securing Australia               Papua, SE New Guinea                     Guadalcanal, Solomon Is.
(Fall 1942–February 1944)                                                                Guadalcanal Naval War
2 - Isolating Rabaul                  Lae to Madang, NE New Guinea        New Georgia, Solomon Is.
(March 1943–March 1944)           The Bismarck Archipelago                 New Georgia Naval War
                                                                                                       Bougainville, Solomon Is.
                                                                                                       Bougainville Naval War
3 - Towards the Philippines    Western New Guinea                         Palau Is. (Central Pacific)
(April–October 1944)   
Orders of Battle:                      OOB-Southwest Pacific                      OOB-South Pacific  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

South and Southwest Pacific Areas - Overview
Allied offensive land operations in the South and Southwest Pacific Areas ...
  • ... began in the summer of 1942 as the US Marine Corps invaded the Guadalcanal area in the Solomon Islands and Australian forces pushed back Japanese advances in Papua in extreme southeast New Guinea.
  • ​... ended in September 1944 when the US Army invaded Morotai in the Netherlands Indies, just north of the equator, 2,300 miles northwest of Guadalcanal.
From Guadalcanal to Morotai
From Guadalcanal to Morotai
Most of these operations began with amphibious landings and required major assistance from the US Navy. In particular, the Guadalcanal land campaign was coupled with a series of massive sea battles as the Imperial Japanese Navy ferociously fought to defeat US operations
The South and Southwest Pacific Areas
Summer 1942–Summer 1944 Combat area in The South & Southwest Pacific, (Western New Guinea is omitted)
​Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Japan > South & SW Pacific Hub and South & SW Pacific Settings webpages: ​         War at Sea 1939-1945, Volume 1: The Defensive, Roskill, S. W. London: HMSO, 1954
         War at Sea 1939-1945, Volume 2: The Period of Balance, Roskill, S. W. London: HMSO, 1956
         War at Sea 1939-1945, Volume 3: The Offensive, Part 1, Roskill, S. W. London: HMSO, 1960
         War at Sea 1939-1945, Volume 3: The Offensive, Part 2, Roskill, S. W. London: HMSO, 1961
  • The 1942 - 1944 US Path Across the Southwest Pacific map is taken from google.com.
  • The Southwest Pacific Area - 1942 map - https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-Papua/index.html. 
  • The South Pacific Area map - https://www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/south-west-pacific-campaign#gallery-51274-17.
  • The New Guinea Area map is courtesy of history.army.mil.
  • I constructed the 300-Mile Radius from Rabaul map using www.calcmaps.com.
  • The Rabaul - Harbor & Airfields - WW II map - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rabaul_-_map.jpg.