This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Hamilton, John Franklin, CSD.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Pine Bluff
Last Address Pine Bluff
Casualty Date Apr 11, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Other Explosive Device
Location Okinawa
Conflict World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Okinawa Gunto Operation
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Treasury-Bougainville Operation
From Month/Year
October / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Description The Bougainville campaign (Operation Cherry Blossom) was fought by the Allies in the South Pacific during World War II to regain control of the island of Bougainville from the Japanese forces who had occupied it in 1942. During their occupation the Japanese constructed naval aircraft bases in the north, east, and south of the island; but none in the west. They developed a naval anchorage at Tonolei Harbor near Buin, their largest base, on the southern coastal plain of Bougainville. On the nearby Treasury and Shortland Islands they built airfields, naval bases and anchorages. These bases helped protect Rabaul, the major Japanese garrison and naval base in Papua New Guinea, while allowing continued expansion to the south-east, down the Solomon Islands chain, to Guadalcanal.
The Allied campaign, which had two distinct phases, began on 1 November 1943 and ended on 21 August 1945, with the surrender of the Japanese.
Before the war, Bougainville had been administered as part of the Australian Territory of New Guinea, even though, geographically, Bougainville is part of the Solomon Islands chain. The United Kingdom and Germany had traded it for another islands territory which became British rather than German. As a result, the campaign is referred to as part of both the New Guinea and the Solomon Islands campaigns.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
October / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Mid-October found Kidd underway with a formidable task force to strike Rabaul and to support the Bougainville landings. Upon reaching a strike position south of Rabaul on the morning of 11 November, the task force struck hard at Japanese positions on the island.
