Bougainville counterattack

Bougainville counterattack
Part of the Bougainville campaign of the Pacific Theater (World War II)
A U.S. Army 75 mm pack howitzer firing at close range at a Japanese position on Hill 260 in March 1944
Date 8–25 March 1944 Location Bougainville Island 06°11′24″S 155°04′48″E / 6.19000°S 155.08000°E / -6.19000; 155.08000 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Japan	United States Fiji  New Zealand
Commanders and leaders
Harukichi Hyakutake	Oscar Griswold
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[1]	263 killed[2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Papua New Guinea

The Bougainville counterattack, also known as the Second Battle of Torokina,^[3] was an unsuccessful Japanese offensive against the Allied base at Cape Torokina on Bougainville Island during the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Japanese attack began on 8 March 1944 after months of preparation and was repulsed by United States Army forces in fighting which lasted until 25 March. The attack was hampered by inaccurate intelligence and poor planning and was pushed back by the well-prepared Allied defenders, who greatly outnumbered the Japanese force. The Japanese suffered severe casualties, while Allied losses were light.

The goal of the offensive was to destroy the Allied beachhead, which accommodated three strategically important airfields. The Japanese mistakenly believed that their forces were about as large as the units deployed to defend the Allied positions. The Allies detected Japanese preparations for the attack shortly after they began in early 1944 and strengthened the base's defenses. None of the three Japanese forces which conducted the attack was able to penetrate far into the Allied perimeter, although there was intense fighting for several positions.

The Bougainville counterattack was the last major Japanese offensive in the Solomon Islands campaign. Following the engagement the Japanese force withdrew from the Empress Augusta Bay area, and only limited fighting took place until late 1944, when Australian troops took over from the Americans and began a series of advances across the island until the end of the war in August 1945.