Land Battle of Vella Lavella

New Zealand soldiers land at Baka Baka, Vella Lavella to relieve the U.S. 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Division, on September 17, 1943.

Date	August 15 to October 9, 1943
Location	Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands
Result	Allied victory

Combatants

Commanders

Theodore S. Wilkinson
Oscar Griswold
H. E. Barrowclough

Strength

9,588^[1]

700^[2]

Casualties

150 killed^[3]

200 killed^[4]

Solomon Islands campaign
1st Tulagi – Guadalcanal – Blackett Strait – Cartwheel – Death of Yamamoto – New Georgia – Kula Gulf – Kolombangara – Vella Gulf – Horaniu – Vella Lavella – Naval Vella Lavella – Treasury Is. – Choiseul – Empress Augusta Bay – Cape St. George – Green Is. – 2nd Rabaul – Bougainville

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Battle of the Central Solomons

The Battle of Vella Lavella was fought from August 15 to October 9 of 1943 between Allied forces from New Zealand and the United States (U.S.) and Japan. Vella Lavella is an island located in the Solomon Islands that had been occupied by Japanese forces. The Allies successfully recaptured the island.

[edit] References

^ Miller, Cartwheel, p. 176 & Gillespie, Official History, p. 128. Ground forces included 5,888 U.S. and 3,700 New Zealanders.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 128 & 139.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 142. Includes ground force and naval support personnel.
^ Gillespie, Official History, p. 139.

McGee, William L. (2002). “Occupation of Vella Lavella”, The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII). BMC Publications. ISBN 0-9701678-7-3.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). “Chapter XIII: Vella Lavella”, Breaking the Bismarcks Barrier, vol. 6 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813071.

The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, 1939–1945: I: Vella Lavella.
Craven, Wesley Frank; James Lea Cate. Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944. The Army Air Forces in World War II. U.S. Office of Air Force History. Retrieved on Oct 20, 2006.
Hughes, Warwick; Ray Munro. 3rd NZ Division in the Pacific. Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
Lofgren, Stephen J.. Northern Solomons (English). The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II pp. 36. Retrieved on October 18, 2006.
Melson, Charles D. (1993). UP THE SLOT: Marines in the Central Solomons (English). WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE SERIES pp. 36. History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on Sept 26, 2006.
Miller, John, Jr. (1959). CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul (English). United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific pp. 418. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army. Retrieved on Oct 20, 2006.
Rentz, John (1952). Marines in the Central Solomons: CHAPTER 5, Central Solomons Mop Up (English). Historical Branch, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Retrieved on May 30, 2006.
Shaw, Henry I.; Douglas T. Kane (1963). Volume II: Isolation of Rabaul. History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Retrieved on 2006-10-18.