Solomon Islands Guadalcanal and Florida Islands with a portion of Malaita Island

Confidential planning map from the Guadalcanal Campaign.

The Solomon Islands was a strategically important archipelago in the South Pacific that was home to several Japanese airbases and harbors. It was the target of the first major Allied offensive against the Empire of Japan, beginning with an attack on Guadalcanal in August 1942. The resulting six-month engagement was filled with vicious fighting on land, air, and sea, as the Japanese tried desperately to retake the island and its vital airfield.

This map was compiled by the 64th Engineer Topographic Company and issued during the midst of The Guadalcanal Campaign, in December 1942. Marked Confidential, the image provides a high-level strategic overview of Guadalcanal, Florida, and Savo Islands and their surrounding waters. Topography is shown with contours, with vegetation, transportation routes, and coastal depths noted according to the legend in the upper left. Important geographic features like mountains, channels, and shoals are labeled throughout.

Ultimately, both sides lost heavily in the engagement in terms of troops and material. U.S. forces suffered over 15,000 casualties (7,000+ killed), while the Japanese had nearly 20,000 soldiers killed and an unknown number wounded. The body of water between Savo and Guadalcanal is now known as Iron Bottom Sound, for the number of ships lost there during the battle.

The rare map is noted in only two examples in WorldCat, at the National Library of Australia and Stanford University. Most examples were likely destroyed once the details within became obsolete or superseded, in accordance with instructions related to Confidential, Restricted, and Secret information.

Source: National WWII Museum; OCLC# 864952254; National Library of Australia;