Just after daylight on August 15, a reinforced regiment of the 25th Division landed on the beaches of southern Vella Lavella. Japanese dive-bombers and fighters constituted the only resistance, and these inflicted little damage on the invaders. Unloading proceeded rapidly. The troops quickly established a defensive perimeter and then struck inland to secure the island. A few hundred Japanese survivors of the ill-fated August 6 destroyer run, and some other escapees from New Georgia, were the only enemy troops on the island. The Americans had more trouble finding them than defeating them. There was some Japanese discussion of making a counter-landing, but wiser heads at Rabaul suggested that this would simply be like "pouring water on a hot stone”, and the idea died quickly.
The Japanese thus limited themselves to hit-and-run air raids on the beachhead and on American ships bringing supplies to Vella Lavella. These were a constant danger, inflicting some casualties on troops unloading supplies and damaging a few ships. But despite such problems, the end of September saw the island all but secured, by which time the airstrip was in action and New Zealand units had replaced the American troops. An attempt by the Japanese to evacuate survivors on the night of October 6 led to another fierce destroyer engagement. This time the Japanese got the better of the fight, rescuing their compatriots and inflicting greater losses on the American warships.
The decision to bypass Kolombangara proved to be doubly sound. For even as the Americans were securing Vella Lavella, General Sasaki, under orders from Rabaul to save his troops for another day, was shifting the Kolombangara force to Bougainville. On three nights at the end of September and in early October, Japanese barges, landing craft, and torpedo boats, escorted by destroyers and aircraft, managed to evacuate more than 9,000 troops. Attempts by American destroyers to thwart the withdrawal were frustrated by the Japanese escorts.
The fight for the central Solomons thus ended with New Georgia and all of the islands around it in American hands. More than 1,000 Americans had died in the battle, and nearly four times as many had been wounded. Japanese casualties probably totalled around 10,000, of which at least a quarter had been killed. Furthermore, continuing Japanese air and naval losses emphasised the growing attrition of these valuable resources. Still, the four months’ defence of the central Solomons meant that much more time to prepare Rabaul for its final defence. And on Bougainville the Japanese hoped to delay the Americans even further.
World History
