When Guadalcanal fell in February 1943, the struggle for the Solomon Islands did not end. The taking of the big island was only the first step in an advance northwestwards through the archipelago towards the center of Japanese air and sea power in the region, the base at Rabaul. As they had been in the struggle for Guadalcanal, dive bomber squadrons flying the SBD Dauntless were indispensable to the American effort here, striking targets on land and sea.
Sources:
Douglas SBD Dauntless, Peter C. Smith
SBD Dauntless Units of WWII, Barrett Tillman
Neglected Disaster: Nisshin, AP Tully. combinedfleet.com/atully10.htm
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14 май 2021
