The naval and air bases that Japan established at Rabaul on the eastern edge of New Britain Island in 1942 became the leading edge of its resistance to America’s return to the Western Pacific. Five hundred miles from the nearest Australian air base and supported by nearby Japanese naval and
The naval and air bases that Japan established at Rabaul on the eastern edge of New Britain Island in 1942 became the leading edge of its resistance to America’s return to the Western Pacific. Five hundred miles from the nearest Australian air base and supported by nearby Japanese naval and air power, Rabaul almost prevented America’s power, projected as it was from across the Pacific, from gaining a toehold in Guadalcanal, on the easternmost edge of the Solomon Islands. That notwithstanding, Rabaul continued to dominate the Southwest Pacific.
Ending that domination and opening access to the region required moving up the Solomon Islands chain. This was laborious and costly. The Russell Islands had to be captured and an airbase established there. Thence, in August 1943, the U. S. captured the New Georgia Island Group, with an airfield from which the bombing of Rabaul could begin. But serious pressure had to wait until November, after the Marines had captured yet another island, Bouganville.
