Bougainville counterattack

Bougainville counterattack
Part of Bougainville Campaign, Pacific War
A US Army 75mm Howitzer firing at a Japanese position in March 1944
Date 8–25 March 1944 Location Bougainville Island Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	United States Colony of Fiji
Commanders and leaders
Harukichi Hyakutake	Roy Geiger
Units involved
17th Army	XIV Corps
Strength
15,400–19,000 men	62,000 men
Casualties and losses
At least 3,500 killed 5,500 wounded	263 killed

The Bougainville counterattack was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville Island during the Pacific War. The Japanese attack began on 8 March 1944 after months of preparations, but was repulsed by United States Army forces in fighting which lasted until the 25th of the month. The Allied defenders greatly outnumbered the Japanese force, and inflicted severe casualties on the attackers while taking relatively few losses. This battle was the final major Japanese offensive in the Solomon Islands campaign, though fighting continued on Bougainville until the end of the war in August 1945.

References

Citations

Works consulted

• Miller, John, Jr. (1959). CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul. United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C: Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Department of the Army. OCLC 569056928. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Rabaul/index.html. Retrieved 9 April 2012. 
• James, Karl (2012). The Hard Slog : Australians in the Bougainville Campaign, 1944–45. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107017320. 
• Willoughby, Charles A. (editor in chief) (1966). Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area Volume II – Part I. Reports of General MacArthur. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 187072014. http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V2%20P1/macarthurv2.htm. Retrieved 9 April 2012.