Pacific
1943–1944: Operation Cartwheel
June 1943 – March 1944 · 6 battles
After the victories at Guadalcanal and in Papua the Allies went over to an offensive aimed at the great Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain. In Operation Cartwheel American, Australian and New Zealand forces under MacArthur and Halsey advanced along two parallel routes: through the central Solomons – New Georgia, Vella Lavella and Bougainville – and along the north coast of New Guinea, the Huon Peninsula and western New Britain. Instead of storming heavily defended Rabaul, the Allies surrounded it with a network of airfields and bases, cutting it off from supplies, and the capture of the Admiralty Islands in the spring of 1944 closed the ring around a fortress that remained on the margins of the fighting until the end of the war.
- 21 June – 25 August 1943New Georgia campaignFrom 21 June to 25 August 1943 the Americans fought for New Georgia in the Solomons. Munda airfield, the aim of the whole operation, fell only on 5 August.
- 15 August – 7 October 1943Battle of Vella LavellaFrom 15 August to 7 October 1943 Americans and New Zealanders took Vella Lavella, bypassing strongly held Kolombangara – the first deliberate “leapfrog”.
- 4–16 September 1943Capture of LaeOn 4–16 September 1943 Australian sea and air landings took Lae, and Salamaua on the 11th; the Japanese 51st Division escaped over the Saruwaged Range.
- 1 November 1943 – 21 August 1945Bougainville campaignFrom 1 November 1943 to 21 August 1945 Americans, then Australians, fought on Bougainville. The Empress Augusta Bay beachhead gave airfields to strike Rabaul.
- 15 December 1943 – 21 August 1945New Britain campaignFrom 15 December 1943 to 21 August 1945 Americans, then Australians, fought on New Britain, taking the west of the island and isolating Rabaul and its garrison.
- 29 February – 18 May 1944Admiralty Islands campaign29 February – 18 May 1944. The US 1st Cavalry Division took the Admiralty Islands, closing the ring around Rabaul; Seeadler Harbour became a major fleet base.