Treasury Islands () are a small group of

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s a few kilometres to the south of Bougainville and from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the country of

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

. The two largest islands in the Treasuries are

Mono Island Mono Island is the largest island of the Treasury Islands, Solomon Islands, at . Geography Mono island is a volcanic island in the northwest of Solomon Islands. It is separated by the Blanche Harbour from Stirling Island and the other coral ...

and the smaller Stirling Island. The deep water strait between these two islands is called Blanche Harbour.

History

Early history

These islands were first discovered in 1788 by British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer Lieutenant John Shortland. In 1886, the islands were included in

German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...

save for Mono Island, which the Britain claimed as its naval coaling base. In 1899, the islands were included in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate to be administered as part of Western District.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the islands were held by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese until 25–27 October 1943, when the islands were invaded via amphibious assault by units of the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

8th Brigade. Following the invasion, an

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

was built on the flatter Stirling Island by the USN 87th Construction battalion. This airfield was then used to support a campaign to neutralize Japanese air power at

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

. Stirling airfield is still in use today by Solomon Airlines.

References

External links

The Treasury Islands Campaign

Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean Islands of the Solomon Islands Western Province (Solomon Islands) Archipelagoes of Oceania {{Solomons-geo-stub