Summary Part of Australia at War week on WW2TV The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles in the South Pacific. The campaign took place in the Northern Solomons in two phases. The first saw American troops landing and forming a perimeter around the beachhead at Torokina. This phase of the campaign lasted from November 1943 through November 1944. The second phase, in which primarily Australian troops went on the offensive, mopping up pockets of starving, isolated but still-determined Japanese, lasted from November 1944 until August 1945, when the last Japanese soldiers on the island surrendered. Operations during the final phase of the campaign saw the Australian forces advance north towards the Bonis Peninsula and south towards the main Japanese stronghold around Buin, although the war ended before these two enclaves were completely destroyed. Dr Karl James is the Head of the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra and joins us today to talk about this campaign and put it into its proper context. Should it be seen as a tragedy or in fact a vitally important military victory?

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