While the Allied land forces fighting on nearby Guadalcanal faced much less resistance, U.S. forces on these other three islands were met by an outnumbered Japanese force that fought to protect the island to the last man.
During the Guadalcanal campaign from August 1942 to February 1943, the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo—all small islands in the Solomons—became a grim prelude to the fierce island-hopping battles ahead. While the Allied land forces fighting on nearby Guadalcanal faced much less resistance, U.S. forces on these other three islands were met by an outnumbered Japanese force that fought to protect the island to the last man.