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N0KFQ > TODAY 08.02.17 15:28l 56 Lines 2450 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 22486_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Feb 8
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 170208/1317Z 22486@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1943
Americans secure Guadalcanal
On this day in 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal,
leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged
campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied
wins in the Solomon Islands.
Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992
islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South
Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of
Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in
1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra
(1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with
the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control
of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands,
except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the
Australians) to the British in 1900.
The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and
began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7
of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the
Allies' first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in
the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air
attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating
tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land,
while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought
six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and
November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers
from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sunk their
ship, the USS Juneau.
Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in
the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were
killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died
from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31,
1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw
from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks
later.
The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In
the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on
Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international
peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a
population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known
as a scuba diver and fisherman's paradise.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
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