Raid on Choiseul

Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

A map of the raid on Choiseul

Date	October 28 - November 3, 1943
Location	6°53′S 156°37′E / 6.883°S 156.617°E / -6.883; 156.617Coordinates: 6°53′S 156°37′E / 6.883°S 156.617°E / -6.883; 156.617 Choiseul in the Solomon Islands
Result	Indecisive

Belligerents

United States

Australia

Japan

Commanders and leaders

Victor H. Krulak

Minoru Sasaki

Strength

750

3,000-7,000

Casualties and losses

13 killed

143 killed,
two barges sunk

The Raid on Choiseul was a small unit engagement that occurred from October 28 to November 3, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign. United States Marines from the 2nd Parachute Battalion, led by Lt Col. Victor "Brute" Krulak, landed on Japanese occupied Choiseul in the northern Solomon Islands and carried out raids on Japanese army and navy forces over a 40 kilometer (25 mi) area over the course of seven days.

The raid was meant to divert Japanese attention from the planned Allied landings on the west coast of Bougainville at Empress Augusta Bay. Instead, the Allies hoped that the raid would cause the Japanese to believe the landings would be on the east side of Bougainville.

During the course of the operation, Krulak's 650 man battalion, assisted by an Australian coastwatcher and native Choiseul islanders, killed 143 Japanese troops, losing 14 Marines (12 killed in action, two missing), in actions later described by Major General Roy Geiger as, "a series of short right jabs designed to throw the enemy off balance and conceal the real power of the left hook to his midriff at Empress Augusta Bay."

On November 2, the raid was momentarily stalled when a Japanese ambush trapped between 40 and 50 marines. Three marines were severely wounded, one of them fatally. The marines were rescued by the motor torpedo boat PT-59, under the command of Lieutenant John F. Kennedy.

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Wikipedia