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3. The Treasuries and Choiseul Admiral Halsey's final decision, relayed to General MacArthur on 1 October, making Empress Augusta Bay the prime target on Bougainville confirmed the importance of the Treasury Islands. As early as mid-September these two small islands, Mono and Stirling, lying only seventy-five miles southeast of Cape Torokina, had been targeted for occupation by COMSOPAC. The rationale for their seizure was to provide a staging area and an advance naval base at Blanche Harbor in addition to establishing a radar station on the north coast of Mono Island. Allied possession of these small islands would ultimately aid in the supply of the combat troops on Bougainville. Part of the flat scrubland of Stirling Island afforded a promising site for a small airstrip. The timing for the Treasuries operation, set for DDay - 5, was also designed to confuse the Japanese as to the location of the major effort in the northern Solomons and to keep them from shifting any significant number of troops away from the Buin area of southern Bougainville.1 Mono, the larger of the two main Treasury Islands, is nevertheless quite small, measuring approximately four miles north to south and slightly over six miles east to west. It is heavily forested, and highlands dominate the southern portion. These hill masses, many of which were more than a thousand feet high, gradually give way to a plateau in the center and north of the island. Reconaissance patrols had determined that the only beaches where LSTs could land were in the south, to the east of the Savake River and Falami Point. Stirling Island, lying slightly over a mile south of Mono, is only about four 40 Bougainville miles long and varies from a quarter of a mile to a mile in width. It is covered with scrub forest and tall grass. Aside from a few very small lakes inland, it has no significant features that would aid in its defense or seriously impede the advance of an attacking force. Between the two islands is a very good deep-water anchorage called Blanche Harbor. Among the many tiny islands in the harbor is Watson Island, a few yards offshore from Falamai Point.. It would prove valuable as a site for mortars that would be used to pound the interior of Mono.2 The unit designated for the assault on the Treasuries, code named GOODTIME, was the 8th Brigade (reinforced) of the New Zealand 3d Division. The first elements of this division had been formed in late 1940 and soon afterward were sent to Fiji, where they had remained with the bulk of the troops on Suva Island until the Allied victories removed the possible threat of a Japanese attack on vital New Caledonia ;New Hebrides, and Fiji islands. No longer needed in Fiji, the two brigades of the division were transported to Guadalcanal. The 14th landed on 29 August 1943, and the 8th arrived two weeks later. They were assigned campsites on the north side of the island near Mantanikan River and were attached to I Marine Amphibious Corps. On 28 September, Brigadier General R.A. Row, commanding the 8th Brigade, learned that his command, supplemented by support troops from marine units, had been chosen to seize the Treasuries. He and the landing force commander, Rear Admiral George Fort, immediately began to plan for the attack. Allied knowledge of the numbers of Japanese and their disposition in the Treasuries was unusually good, compared to that for other operations in the Pacific. In August a patrol had spent six days on the islands, and friendly natives had helped them spot most of the possible strongpoints and survey the best landing beaches. Some further information had been received from air crewmen who had been forced down and later rescued from Mono after raids against Buin. All this information was supplemented by aerial photographs. It was estimated that 150 Japanese occupied the large island, but none were on Stirling. General Row's plans called for a full-scale invasion by as many troops of the 8th Brigade as could be accommodated in the limited shipping available. Ultimately thirty-one ships were involved in transporting the New Zealanders and their supplies, including eight APDs, eight LCIs, two LSTs, eight LCMs, three LCTs, and two APCs. In addition, Admiral Fort from his flagship the USS Raton controlled the destroyers Pringle and Philip, which would provide preliminary bombardment and heavier-caliber support once the troops were ashore. [18.116.118...

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