A look into the South West Pacific Area (SWPA)

South West Pacific Area Campaign

General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Allied Commander South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) on 18 April 1942.  The South-West Pacific was one of three theatres of World War Two in the Pacific region between 1942 and 1945.

The South-West Pacific Area included Australia, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (excluding Sumatra), New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago), and the western part of the Solomon Islands.

Within the SWPA, campaigns were waged with often heavy losses including:

• Philippines (1941–42) (Battle of Bataan and Corregidor);

• Solomon Islands campaign 1943–45;

• New Guinea campaign, 1942–45 including:

    > Battle of the Coral Sea 4–8 May 1942, ( under US Navy command);

    > Kokoda Track campaign 1942;

    > Battle of Milne Bay (25 August – 7 September 1942);

    > Battles of Buna-Gona 1942;

    > Bismarck Sea 2 March 1943;

    > Salamaua-Lae campaign 1943;

    > Aitape-Wewak campaign 22 April 1944;

    > Battle of Timor 1942–43;

    > Battle of Leyte Gulf 20 October 1944; and

    > the Borneo campaign (1945)