Figure 1.--This is a World War II era era photograph of New Caledonia boys eating sugar cane. It was taken by a GI. Inscribed at the back of photo: "June 1942. Pam, New Caledonia. Native children sucking on sugar cane". This was a few months before the Marines landed on Guadcanl, launching the Solomons campaign. The French island of New Caledonia became an esential naval base during the fierce naval battles fought in and around the Solomons.

New Caledonia was one of several French terrioties in the South Pacific. Luckily for the French, they were located just outside the area the Japanese managed to seize after Pearl Harbor. And after Midway, the United states had just enough naval power to prevent the Japanese from reaching the French islands. One of the most important was the relatively large iland of New Caledonia. It was located south of Guadacanal and 680 miles northeast of Sydney. The island was not a typical South Pacific island. It had important nickel and chromium mines and much of the output was exported to Japan before the War. About 1,300 Japanese nationals worked the mines. When World War II began in Europe (1939), the Japanese increased their orders, apparently anticipating that supplies might be cut off. The island was added to the Japanese objectives, both because of the mines and the strategic location. The islands could play a very important role in severing the sea lanes between Australia and the United States. The Japanese offensive to seize the islands were part of the FS Operation and included the seisure of Fiji and the Samoa Islands. Cut off from America and with its Army in North Africa, the Japanese believed that Australia would be forced to surrender. The FS Operation, however, required Japanese naval dominance and Midway (June 1942) had significantly altered the balance of naval forces. New Caledonia played a major in the Solomons campaign. Noumea and the southern tip of the island, became the principal American base for the naval operations that were fought to protect the Marines who seized Guadacanal (August 1942). Nomea proved to have just enough facilities to keep Enteprise patched up after it became the single operational American carrier. After the Americans began moving up the Solomon Islands toward Rabaul, New Caledonia became a remote, but important rear area of the War.

Created: 12:05 AM 5/22/2008
Last updated: 12:05 AM 5/22/2008