History of Honiara

What is now Honiara was close to the site of the Guadalcanal Campaign in World War II. The Battle of Henderson Field was held in what is now the airport area in 1942. The battle was the last of the three major land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marine and Army forces, under the overall command of Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 17th Army, under the command of Japanese Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake. The U.S. forces were defending the Lunga River perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, that had been captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Hyakutake's force was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off of the island. The Japanese initially landed with 3,500 troops but it soon grew to over 20,000 personnel in total, roughly equal with America's 23,000; both sides had about 13,000 troops.

From the top of the Mount Austin at 410 m elevation panoramic views of the north coastal plains and also Savo and Florida islands, and the battle fields of WWII can be seen. Japanese