One of the last surviving Australian Second World War veterans of the Solomon Islands campaign has returned for the first time to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal.
The bloody conflict is credited with turning the tide against the Japanese in the Pacific and the HMAS Australia led the invasion force.
On the morning of August 7, 1942 William (Bill) Quinn was a stoker on-board the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) flagship as it led a US battle group to take on the Imperial Japanese forces.
“It’s a bit overwhelming. I never thought it would happen and I'm rather emotional about it all,” the 92-year-old said after returning for the commemoration at the Guadalcanal American War Memorial.
“We were providing protection for the transports and the US Marines that were being landed.
“Some nasty things happened while we were here but you can’t change history.”
While predominantly a US operation, Solomon Island foreign minister Milner Tozaka paid tribute to the Australian role in the battle.
HMAS Australia veteran Bill Quinn with Solomon Islands veteran association’s Michael Ben (L) and scout descendant Robert Lulumani. Source: Stefan Armbruster SBS
“It is with great satisfaction that we are able, for the first time ever, to honour an Australian service man who was present on the day of the landing in 1942,” Mr Tozaka said to applause.
The operation to land 11,000 mainly US Marines under naval and aerial attack from the Japanese saw the Australia’s sister ship, the HMAS Canberra, sunk on August 9 with the loss of 84 lives.
“My strongest memory is the night we lost the four heavy cruisers (including the HMAS Canberra) around Savo island,” Mr Quinn said.
The Australian role in this battle was a vital but is nowadays largely overshadowed by the campaign in Kokoda in what is now Papua New Guinea.
Guadalcanal played a vital role in that Australian success by diverting away Japanese resources to fight in the Solomons.
Not only did the RAN lead with the invasion fleet, but it also ran a sophisticated spy network of coastwatchers and scouts, made up of Australians, Europeans and islanders, set up in the British colony before the Japanese invasion.
A wartime photo of William (Bill) Quinn. Source: Supplied
“Australians and Solomon Islanders working together for the common good is a partnership that continues to this time,” said Mr Tozaka.
Seven descendants of the brave islanders, who were commanded by RAN officer Eric Feldt and helped the Allies defeat the Japanese, received commemorative medals at the ceremony from the Australian government.
“Marvelous men. An incredible job they did,” said Mr Quinn.
“We were warned of the approach of the Japanese bombers from Rabaul (in PNG). Without them things would have been a lot different, without the coastwatchers.”
A memorial statue to the coastwatchers and scouts bravery and the role Australia played stands in Commonwealth Avenue in the capital Honiara.
While they are little known in Australia, their efforts are highly regarded in US military history.
“These patriotic volunteers and the intelligence they provided, clearly demonstrated the high value of the coastwatchers,” said Brigadier General Brian W Cavanaugh, the deputy commander of US Marines in the Pacific at the commemoration.
“The US Pacific fleet admiral Halsey (in WW2) said, ‘The coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal, and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific’.”
The islander scouts also saved the life of a future president of the United States, the then patrol boat captain John F Kennedy.
Almost 40,000 soldiers from both sides died during the six month campaign in Guadalcanal.
An unknown number of Solomon Islanders died in what is locally known among the older generation as the “Big Death”.
A large multi-national commemoration to mark the 75th anniversary of Guadalcanal is planned for next year with a mooted visit by the Australian Navy ship now carrying the name HMAS Canberra.
