What Happened After Guadalcanal? - Central Solomons Campaign - PACIFIC WAR

Explore the untold chapters of the Pacific War in our comprehensive breakdown of the Central Solomons Campaign following the pivotal Guadalcanal battles. Delve into the strategic maneuvers, fierce clashes, and hidden stories that shaped the war's course.

In this in-depth YouTube video, discover how the Central Solomons Campaign unfolded, shedding light on the lesser-known yet crucial battles that followed Guadalcanal. From the intense naval engagements to the island-hopping tactics employed by both sides, we dissect the tactical brilliance and sacrifices that marked this consequential phase of World War II.

Join us as we uncover the key players, the pivotal moments, and the geopolitical implications that emerged in the aftermath of Guadalcanal. Witness the bravery of soldiers, the challenges they faced, and the lasting impact of this overlooked campaign on the Pacific theater.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights into a critical yet overshadowed chapter of history. Subscribe and hit the notification bell to ensure you catch every detail of our exploration into the Central Solomons Campaign. Like, comment, and share to join the discussion and ensure this vital part of history gets the recognition it deserves.

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:34 What Happened After Guadalcanal?
00:27:35 Fire and Death Over the Solomons
01:00:29 Invasion of the Central Solomons
01:26:17 Naval Battles
01:47:58 Conquest of New Georgia
02:52:46 Vella Lavella and Japanese Evacuation

#Documentary #PacificWar #Guadalcanal

[davidkish]

This series is by far your longest running and your most in depth dive into any historical era or conflict and from the start till now I've never been disappointed. Having my grandfather serve in the CBI theater this series holds a particular place in my heart and I look forward to every new release and will look forward up to the end of 45'. Absolutely keep it up K&G team 👍

[omarbradley]

For those interested on the chronology of the series at 2:05:06 ends the last public available video, the rest is new.

[bullettube]

My uncle served with a construction battalion in this campaign and said it was hell all the way. He and most of the battalion were very sick and it took weeks for them to recover. They started on Guadalcanal and built some of the airstrips that were mentioned along side the SeeBees. They were always short of clean water and could not wash up because they needed water for drinking, their rations rotted as did their clothing and shoes. When he and the battalion worked on Luzon their clothing and shoes were better quality and lasted longer. The Japanese had it even worse as their logistics could not keep up with their needs.

[TheFrontlineWatcher]

An epic saga, the go-to choice for those wanting to dive into the Battle of Guadalcanal. Thanks for your consistently high-quality production!👏

[minoru-kk]

This series always reminds me of something that many Japanese people forget. It wasnt only Japanese and American people who fought, slaughtered, and sacrificed their lives on Pacific Front

[FJVII]

This stuff is the gold standard for history content on YT.

[zemog]

This is a massive bin of information put together in way that makes one of the longest and most complex campaigns of WW2 readily accessible and easily digestible. I've been a WW2 Solomons Campaign buff since the mid 70s after reading Air War and Guadalcanal Diary, and even after reading just about every book published on the subject since then, it was still hard to coherently piece together. Thank you for taking the time to weave it all together in a masterful manner, worthy of a modern war college.

[alvinbontuyan]

What a time to be alive to be able to see quality documentaries like this one for free

[Sophocles]

Thank you so much for _consistently_ producing such high end content. You are very much appreciated!

[noone]

Absolutely amazing, little less known campaign in the pacific and definitely deserve this huge amount of effort, amazing video!

[GregDaniels-yood]

My father was a member of the 1st Marine Air Wing and arrived in the Solomons in March of 1943. He remained there until 1945 when he came home on leave. He used to tell my brother and I stories (funny ones) about the war. I'll never forget the romantic names of places- Vella Lavella, Rendova and Espiritu Santu.
I've never found a more complete account of the battle up the Solomons than this one.
Thank you!
Greg Daniels

[badazzoverlord]

My Grandpa was part of the Guadalcanal & Solomons campaign back in WWII! He used to tell me so many stories about the campaigns.

[dangreier]

I've never had to fact check with your Chanel. I can't stress how much you've made me smile. Please don't stop

[uncbball]

You all are legends, especially after the pearl harbor and midway video.

[AWillforY]

For the Kings and Generals. For the algorithm.

[ronjohnson]

Amazing to hear about some actual cooperation between the IJA and IJN. One wonders what might have happened at Guadalcanal if the Japanese could have managed this.

[ramal]

The fact that the USN in 1943 used night tactics for bombardment, surface interception and convoy movement, just what the IJN did mostly in 1942, also the USN was getting more proficient with nighttime gunnery on their ships and tactics. How the tide has turned

[DrewbattleTheGreat]

Admirals and generals aren’t built like this anymore. The quality of our military leaders is severely watered down.

[photonotavailable]

Uncle KIA USS San Francisco (CA-38) Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 12-13 November 1942. Gone too soon, Rest In Peace. All gave some, some gave all. 🫡

[kism]

Interesting.

My grandmother's older brother (George Maelalo) a South Pacific Islander from Malaita, Langalanga lagoon, was 19 years old in 1943, and was part of the Fiji Commando Guerella Unit mentioned in 1:10:14 under the New Zealand team that also fought alongside the Americans in New Georgia.

He were assigned to unit 23 under Lt. Len Barrow, trained alongside other Solomon Islanders, and Fijians and fought in jungle guerrilla warfare, and scouting missions in Guadalcanal as well as here in New Georgia. He was also part of the end of the Guadalcanal campaign. But then they moved to New Georgia to chase back the Japanese until 1945.

He said in Guadalcanal, general Vandergrift divided them into platoons. He recalls that the Japanese occupied the Gaudalcanal area from Honiara to the tip of Guadalcanal and he was sent with many soldiers to Mataniko where the Japanese were holding off the other side of the river in a place today called, Tuvaruhu (the area has hills and jungles). The fighting was very intense, day and night the Japanese bombed the place and fired shells, and then the Ameicans would reply by raining bullets back, even the American ships at sea would rain bullets on to the hill tops, it was like hell on earth he described.

At Mboganavera, he recalled he went up the hill and arrived to see nothing but all the allied marines laying down on the grass smoking. He asked "Ai, wea nao enemi?" Translated: "where's the enemy?" Then they said to him, just smoke your cigarette, no enemies here, just hotel here, you got anything to drink?" LOL. He found the American behavior was different. They had a no care attitude. Because, being in the jungle, they don't care of doing anything, if they wanted to do something they just did it, unlike the Australian soldiers who respected their senior officers well.

The fighting in Guadalcanal that George Maelalo was part of was around toward the end of the Guadalcanal campaign from what I gatheref from his stories because he never gave specific dates but he did give names. I only reference the events in this YouTube video as well as the Guadalcanal campaign also covered by Kings and Generals here.

So at Guadalcanal they fought the Japanese back. This happened day, and night always before the Japanese retreated. When crossing to the Mataniko river to the other side, you couldn't just run down the hill or you were easy target due to machine gun fire, so plenty people rolled down the hill like drums because it was faster. Many soldiers got hit but you had to keep going on or else you'd get hit too. George Maelalo described that when going down he rolled down the hill and splashed into the river, and crossed to other side to kill a few Japs in Guadalcanal before they retreated. His helmet had leaves on it, making it hard for the enemy to spot him. He splashed into the river and bullets were firing toward him but not at him. He saw five Japs, and shot at them, hitting one. And they pushed them back.

Afterwards, now in New Georgia, after the Guadalcanal campaign was over they were transported to and rested at Kokorano on Renova Island. They were preparing for the New Georgia campaign which he would be stationed at until the end of the war. Then toward the end of the war, George Maelalo and the rest of the Pacific islanders there would help build an airport at Ibu.

One of his best contributions was for the Americans against a fortified hilly place called Sorokina which was an annoying "fortified position". The Japs had a base there and a radar that alerted them of American planes which really hindered dropping off essential supplies and more importantly, food rations for months.

A few Americans and Australians tried to go up to Sorokina to destroy the radar but many never returned. George Maelalo volunteered to go up, and so he was reassigned to a mines division so they would train him how to use a specific mine. Then, was sent off essentially on a stealth mission in the morning where it was still dark to destroy that radar by 6 oclock. He travelled up the bush by himself in the dark toward the Japanese fortified camp at Sorokina to detonate a radar. It's here that he crept and crawled his way into the area, and noted that the Jap guards were asleep. He remarked how fortunate that all guards he passed by were asleep how it was like his custom was operating (side note, he says custom referring to Melanesian practice of heathens before Christianity came to the Islands, which is ironic because George Maelalo was the Son of a Christian Pastor our great Grand father, Clement Maelalo who was a preacher and the first Islander from Malaita to switch from Heathen ways to Jesus, and encouraged us all his children to pray to God properly to stop Heathen/pagan ways, so George makes a reference to saying his fortunes were attributed to custom when without a doubt it must have been God's blessing he was alive is just a way for him to be cocky I guess).

He even crept up to one Jap soldier, stole his magazine clip to show as proof to his American superiors that he was in the area, and went up to find the radar. He set the mines on location, then pulled the detonator, and pressed down the two handles, round and round it went to 1600 pressure, ready, touch pull, and waited for 6 o'clock the time to pull. At one minute to 6 ocklock he recalls thinking about his mom back in Malaita who didnt want him to go to war, and how his dad let him come to war because he is a boy. He was thinking probably his mum was right, and why he has to involve himself in this war and maybe this is his last day alive on earth about to kill himself with this mine. By 6 o'clock, he put his leg on the mine pushed it inside, jamming it inside the small hole, and destroyed the radar as it flew up in the air. He successfully destroyed the radar at Sorokina at 6 oclcok that morning, because the Americans said if it isn't by 6 o'clock they would assume he was dead or taken prisoner. Then when the radar exploded, the Japs scrambled around shouting "Merika Merika". Place was so dark, he couldn't see his own hands in front his face but threw smoke bombs around, but when he saw the shadows of Japs, tak tak, down they went, they didn't even see him as he shot around 17 Japs that morning, before running down a hill as the rest of the Americans who saw the radar destroyed and were waiting surrpunding Sorokina, fired bullets and explosions into the area. George found a safe place and waited for the fighting to die down, eventually around 0930 hours, when the Americans came searching for prisoners, and they one of the soldiers saw him raise the American helmet. And the Americans saw it was their scout. He said the name of the captain was Cpt. Tregaskis (spelled phonetically I think) and he showed the magazine he clipped from the sleeping Japanese soldier before destroying the radar that night.

After the events of Sorokina destroying that radar, George Maelalo and the other islanders remaining helped the Americans build an airport, clearing trees, digging earth, to evacuate injured Allied soldiers back to Guadalcanal until 1945 when the war ended.

There's a lot more stories he told us but that's all for now.

Thanks to Kings and Generals