![]() There were several native trails, mostly along the coast, but only the trail around the north-west coast of the island was usable by motor vehicles. A 1,400-ft (430-m) airstrip had also been completed on Buka island just across the narrow Buka Passage from the northern tip of Bougainville. Late in 1941, there was an adequate anchorage with a small landing for loading copra at Buin near the southern end of the island, and a grass airstrip. Malaria and other tropical diseases are endemic. With an average of some 100 in (254 cm) of rain per year, the island is wet right through the year, although the winter months include south-east winds which bring slightly drier conditions than during the summer period’s north-west winds. The lower slopes and coastal plains are covered in dense jungle. Bougainville is mountainous, dominated by the Emperor and Crown Prince ranges, with two active volcanoes of which the higher is Mt Balbi, at 10,171 ft (3100 m). The island lies near the north-western end of the chain, 190 miles (300 km) to the east of Rabaul, the Japanese primary base area in the northern part of New Britain island. The operation was known formally as 'Dipper' (ii), but is universally recognised as 'Cherryblossom', which was the US codename for Empress Augusta Bay.īougainville is the largest island of the Solomon islands group, and is about 130 miles (210 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide, with an area of about 3,800 sq miles (9840 km²). 'Cherryblossom' was the US seizure of a substantial beach-head at Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville island at the northern end of the Solomon islands group as the final US operation within the eastern portion of 'Cartwheel' (1 November 1943).
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