Battle of Vella Lavella (land)

Battle of Vella Lavella
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
US troops on Vella Lavella, mid-September 1943
Date 15 August – 6 October 1943 Location Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands 7°44′S 156°38′E / 7.733°S 156.633°E / -7.733; 156.633 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  New Zealand	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Theodore S. Wilkinson Oscar Griswold Harold Barrowclough	Noboru Sasaki
Strength
9,588[1]	700[2] – 1,000[3]
Casualties and losses
150 killed[4]	Less than 150[5] to 200–300 killed[6]

The Battle of Vella Lavella was fought from 15 August – 6 October 1943 between the Empire of Japan and the Allied forces from New Zealand and the United States at the end of the New Georgia campaign. Vella Lavella, an island located in the Solomon Islands, had been occupied by Japanese forces early during the war in the Pacific. Following the Battle of Munda Point, the Allies recaptured the island in late 1943, following a decision to bypass a large concentration of Japanese troops on the island of Kolombangara.

After a landing at Barakoma on 15 August, US troops advanced along the coasts, pushing the Japanese north. In September, New Zealand troops took over from the Americans, and they continued to advance across the island, hemming the small Japanese garrison along the north coast. On 6 October, the Japanese began an evacuation operation to withdraw the remaining troops, during which the Naval Battle of Vella Lavella was fought. Following the capture of the island, the Allies developed it into an important airbase which was used in the reduction of the main Japanese base at Rabaul.