ABSTRACT
When the war ended for the rest of the world, the islands returned to the obscurity from which they had so briefly emerged. Hostilities in the islands were as fierce as in any World War II theater; in February 1944 the most intense artillery barrage of either world conflict preceded the Allied landing on Kwajalein, Japan's military headquarters in the Marshalls. The Australian-officered Pacific Island Regiment, in which more than 3,500 Melanesians had served by the war's end, fought in most of the major New Guinea campaigns. Even in 1945, after the Japanese had been forced out of most of the islands, ground hostilities continued in New Guinea where more than 100,000 Japanese remained when the war ended. Wartime military service, recognized by citations and decorations, contributed both to islander self-esteem and European respect for islander prowess. In islands largely untouched by fighting on the ground, the war in many cases brought new prosperity, employment opportunities, and improved infrastructure.
