Bougainville is the largest of the Solomon Islands and is located near the northern end of the Solomons chain in the southwestern Pacific. With the island of Buka and the Kilinailau, Tauu, Nukumanu, Nuguria, and Nissan Island groups, Bougainville is now a province of Papua New Guinea. The island is 75 miles long and varies in width from 40 to 60 miles. Its topography is ruggedly volcanic, the Emperor Range reaching 9,000 feet at the northern end of the island. Another, lower range, the Crown Prince Range, occupies the southern half of the island. Bougainville is surrounded by coral reefs.

From November 1943 to August 1945, Bougainville was the target of a U.S. campaign to eject the Japanese garrison stationed there. Having achieved success in the New Guinea Campaign and the New Georgia Campaign, American forces closed in on the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Bougainville was the final Japanese line of defense protecting Rabaul from U.S. forces progressing up the Solomon chain. Recognizing Bougainville's critical importance, the Japanese rushed to reinforce it by sending in 37,500 men of the Seventeenth Japanese Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Hyakutake Haruyoshi. However, most of these men were deployed to the southern end of Buin and to offshore islands. This left Empress Augusta Bay vulnerable to a landing by U.S. Marines on November 1, 1943, after the 3rd New Zealand Division had taken the Treasury Islands nearby. The marines set up a perimeter and immediately began construction of airstrips. In the meantime, at sea, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay commenced on November 2. U.S. naval forces sank a Japanese cruiser and a destroyer. Simultaneously, the Fifth U.S. Army Air Force bombed Japanese airstrips and provided close air support for the marines.

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