1st Commando Fiji Guerillas, Part 2

By mid-1942 the Japanese tide in the Pacific is turning, and the invasion Fiji feared never comes. But the war is not finished with the First Commando Fiji Guerrillas.In this episode, the American forces take over the defence of Fiji, and the New Zealand-led commandos pass under a new command. They become an unexpected thing: a jungle-warfare school for the incoming US Army, running night raids and mock ambushes against their own allies, and arming their Fijian soldiers at last. Then the orders come, and the unit sails north into the Solomon Islands.On Guadalcanal they absorb Fijians, Tongans, and Solomon Islanders into a five-nation force. On New Georgia they go to war for real, a small band whose reconnaissance behind Japanese lines becomes the key to the American advance on Munda, at a cost that begins to fall on named men. On Vella Lavella they hunt a scattered enemy through the bush. And in the end it is not battle but malaria that breaks them, until a unit worn down and used up is brought home and disbanded in 1944.This is the story of how a garrison force raised to defend one island fought its way across others it had never heard of, and of the New Zealanders, Fijians, Tongans, and Solomon Islanders who made it.Sources: Colin Larsen, Pacific Commandos: New Zealanders and Fijians in Action; Anna Annie Kwai, Solomon Islanders in World War II: An Indigenous Perspective; Richard Tregaskis, Guadalcanal Diary; D. C. Horton, New Georgia: Pattern for Victory; and further histories of the Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bairoko campaigns. Recorded testimony of Solomon Islander veterans, including George Maelalo.For maps, photographs, and the full source base behind this series, visit worldwar2-sof.comSearch terms: WW2 Pacific, Fiji Guerrillas, New Zealand commandos, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, jungle warfare, special forces history#WW2 #WWII #PacificWar #MilitaryHistory #HistoryPodcast #Guadalcanal #NewGeorgia #SolomonIslands #Fiji #Commandos #NewZealandHistory #SpecialForces #WorldWarTwo #Podcast #History #JungleWarfare #WW2History #PacificTheatre🔗 Stay connected with us:Website: https://worldwar2-sof.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ww2.sofFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOFFacebook Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/WorldWar2SOF/subscribe/Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ww2.sofSpotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2sof