US Marines Legacy
O
n 7 August 1942 the United States Marines landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo in the (British) Solomon Islands (Protectorate). Before the war Gavutu was the main trading base of the Lever Corporation and very close to the Colonial Administration Resident organisation on the island of Tulagi. In the Second World War the Japanese were busy building airfields and bases on these islands which if completed could threaten Australia. The Americans shelled and bombed the islands for several days in preparation for their landings. On 7 August boats landed the U. S. Marines Corps (USMC) 1st Paratrooper Battalion on Gavutu.The Marines were immediately pinned down by gunfire for some time.The defending Japanese were entrenched in caves and bunkers and fought fanatically until eliminated. During the Battle of Gavutu, the Marines were accidentally shelled and bombed by friendly forces. On August 8 1942, reinforcements landed in the area about a third of the way down the eastern side of the island and Gavutu and Tanambogo were secured. The Battle for Gavutu In 1976 I was working in the Solomon Islands and owned a 22 foot fin keeled Pandora yacht called “Kavenga” She was a Van de Stadt design with 4 berths and sailed like a dream. She was shipped out from England as deck cargo in her purpose build cradle onboard a Bank Line ship that made monthly passages Figure 1 from the UK with general cargo outward and copra (coconut) and palm oil return. My sailing was restricted to weekends and bank holidays taking advantage of the trade winds which would generally start to build about 10.00 hours reaching up to Force 6 by about 13.00 and then starting to die off 16.0017.00. I would sail from Honiara on Guadalcanal for some 25-30 miles to various anchorages in the Florida Figure 2: The Battle for Gavutu Islands for a weekend away. This weekend we sailed in company with a 40 foot ferrocement Ketch called “Arwen” owned by our Australian friends Adrian and Ann Hickey from Sydney. We anchored by the old wharf at Gavutu with stern lines back to the wharf. A very secure spot sheltered from the trade winds. However, the concrete wharf had a number of holes blasted in its surface as a result of the shelling etc. described above. We all met up in the evening on the old wharf for a BBQ and a few coldies. Various nautical stories were swapped and it was necessary to replenish supplies from the stocks kept in
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