Battle of the Green Islands

Battle of the Green Islands
	Part of Operation Cartwheel
	; Troops from New Zealand disembark from US Landing Craft Infantry ship LCI-444 to occupy Green Island on 16 February 1944.
Date	15–20 February 1944
Location	Green Islands in the South Pacific
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
New Zealand; United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Harold Barrowclough; Richard M. Nixon	Hitoshi Imamura
Strength
5,806	120
Casualties and losses
13 killed; 26 wounded; 1 cruiser damaged	120 killed,; 12 aircraft destroyed

The Battle of the Green Islands or Operation Squarepeg was fought from 15 to 20 February 1944, between Imperial Japan and Allied forces from the New Zealand 3rd Division and the United States. Undertaken after landings to secure lodgments on New Britain and Bougainville, the main focus of the operation was the capture of Nissan Island, which was secured by New Zealand forces after only a short ground campaign. At only very limited cost in terms of casualties, the Allied operation resulted in the capture of several small atolls in the island chain, which were subsequently used to support air and naval operations focused on reducing the main Japanese base on Rabaul.