If America LOST The Battle Of Guadalcanal... US Would Drop ‘Dozens’ More Atomic Bombs On Japan

[@bobnewby9129]

I'm a simple man. You bring Jon Parshall in to talk and I watch.

[@keepyourbilsteins]

I see Jon and I'm with you. I see alt history format and I cannot like 😢

[@jimrunsfar]

🎯

[@gregflotron7995]

@@jimrunsfar Amen, yes. Same. the I hit repeat

[@TheBurr75]

I was about to make the exact same post😂

[@druballard8929]

First saw him on Unauthorized History of the Pacific. Jonathan is excellent at what he does.

[@henryplantagenet219]

Great episode! Job Parshall is for me one of the greatest naval historians of our days. He not only knows his stuff, he has a compelling way to talk us all through it, as you were sitting with a good old friend in a bar with a beer or wine and just chat. Great!

[@bujler]

I see John Parshall, I click. It's almost Pavlovian.

[@brettcurtis5710]

1st Marine Division formed and trained in Wellington NZ mid 1942 (except for the 7th Marines who garrisoned Samoa). Ghormley had his HQ at the Jean Batten Building in Auckland, even though the marines were based and training in Wellington! The marines left in a logistical nightmare - the ships weren't combat loaded, the local Wharfies refused to work in the increasingly wet weather (August is mid Winter in NZ). Eventually they reached Fiji and conducted a landing exercise then on to Guadalcanal. Ghormley as stated was out of his depth and when Halsey took over the campaign changed - the US Army divisions (Americal and 24th) also arrived. The US Forces buildup in NZ started with a vengeance - eventually 2 Marine and 3 US Army divisions trained and built-up in NZ. the Marines are still well remembered and the current US Embassy Marines take part in our Anzac Day fundraising and commemorations. Kia kaha from New Zealand!

[@glennevans6188]

There are some great NZ National archive movie film clips of US Marines based in Wellington, my old home town. I once visited the Paekakariki beach where the Marines trained!

[@thomasrascati4340]

Great discussion of one of the more fascinating campaigns of Pacific Theater. Thank you James Hanson, Rear Admiral Dr. Chris Parry and Jonathan Parshall for this enlightening conversation.

[@bobleicht5295]

Another brilliant show; well researched, presented, and moderated. BZ, gents.

[@bowenisland100]

Both experts are terrific. Jonathan Parshall is a great story teller

[@steveg6978]

Just read the book from Saburo Sakai, he said they had about 7 to 10 minutes to fight over GuadalCanal. They lost many pilots because they could make it back to Rabul, where the Americans could land on their airstrip. He said operationally it wore out the fighters.

[@ZiggyBoon]

What I like about this channel, and counter-factual history in general, is that it shows how the lives we live today are essentially a function of the outcomes of events that could have happened differently than they did, which would mean (or would have meant) that we'd actually be living differently today than we actually are ... but wouldn't know it.

[@questprotector]

if events had gone differently than they did, we probably wouldn't be here at all.

[@seanmccann8368]

Only for something the sky would fall.

[@brovold72]

This sort of discussion CAN become rather silly and far-fetched, but I think this production strikes a good balance.

[@kpdubbs7117]

The Battle of Edson's Ridge named for Merrit Edson. DD-946, The USS Edson, is named after him and is currently a museum ship located about 2 miles from where I live.

[@jannarkiewicz633]

I love Jon Parshall. I just watch him for his wall paper. :-) I knew the episode was coming.

[@KMN-bg3yu]

Dont leave out his choice of shirt

[@chris_hisss]

This is really well done/ Lots of good footage. Good graphics. Thorough study. Didn't really understand it was over 6 months. Good job having the host and two speakers. A lot of Jon's videos it is easy to get lost. This helps the focus.

[@v.mwilliams1101]

Thank you Jon and Admiral Parry, most interesting.

[@davidrobertson5996]

Great show, as always. Really interesting discussion and always interesting. Well done, James & co!

[@Osbornetorun1]

Incredible content 👏

[@adamstrange7884]

Jon's wallpaper kept the Yamato at Truk!

[@hazchemel]

Hahaha. Well I quite like it, reminding me of a most celestial beautiful painting of the inside of a cathedral's ... cupola or dome.

[@nomadfrooge]

Probably the best observation ever.

[@jonparshall]

It's horrid, isn't it? 🙂

[@hazchemel]

@@jonparshall no, inside of a cathedral cupola

[@Sherpah1]

He has a shirt with basically the same pattern, blends in nicely with the wall. Makes him look like the ghost of Pacific history past.

[@Cometkazie]

Excellent episode. I'm a big fan of Jon P, but Adm Chris certainly has a lot to say, too. Well done, gentlemen.

[@Vito_Tuxedo]

Superbly done! I mean, how could it be otherwise with Jon Parshall and his Wallpaper of Insight aboard! 😎

[@michaellendzian2655]

Excellent content. Keep up the good work.

[@timf2279]

I enjoy every interview with Jon.

[@geoffoliver1239]

Footage of Australian troops on the Kokoda track seems a little off topic.

[@richardeast5660]

Mate if the Aussies did not hold the left flank in PNG and the Australian Coast Watcher's did not support GC and brave US Marines unfortunately there would of been a difficult result

[@mglennon5535]

Good show! Great guest. Awesome insight. You’ve a new viewer.

[@tonydevos]

John Parshall, you're amazing. When are you going to finish that book on 1942?

[@Idahoguy10157]

The Diseases and malnutrition in Guadalcanal made the First Marine Division combat ineffective. The division needed a year to recover

[@ianshaver8954]

The Japanese had it worse.

[@coachhannah2403]

Operation Shoestring. Back when appropriate names were created for Operations!

[@kemarisite]

That was an appropriate nickname. Formally it was Operation Watchtower.

[@mitchellhawkes22]

It's great to see that the great Ukraine War reporter, James Hanson, has a firm understanding of the importance of the WW2 Battle for Guadalcanal. He's a Brit, so you wouldn't think he'd have much of an interest in American military struggles early in the Pacific War. But Hansom shows he knows this battle better than you do.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Hansom’s pretty terrific. 🙂

[@morrisweber6353]

Excellent presentation!

[@ferminromero2602]

Outstanding and informative discussion with well spoken experts. Looking forward to hearing more of these presentations.

[@saltyroe3179]

If Japan finished the air strip at Guadalcanal, they would be able patrol the Coral Sea. This could have resulted in Australia being cut off from the USA as well as threatening the Australian supply chain to New Guinea. The most important objective of the US campaign was to prevent the air strip from being completed. To that end the Navy landed Marines on what many thought would be a suicide mission. The Navy was willing to sacrifice the Marines to prevent the air strip from being completed. It did not have sufficient resources to assure the Marines would hold the Island, nor to safely supply the Marines.

[@gagamba9198]

_'This could have resulted in Australia being cut off from the USA'_ Yes, its north and east coasts. Brisbane was an important port for US submarines. That said, the US convoys could have sailed further south, replenished in New Zealand if needed, and delivered supplies to Melbourne (just less than 3500 km from Guadalcanal as the crow flies, which means Japan's aircraft are overflying a lot of Oz) or Adelaide (just more than 3500 km). Occupation of Guadalcanal puts those two cities at about the furthest range of Betty bombers flying a strait line in good weather, which seems to me to be implausible. But if Melbourne and Adelaide can't be defended, then it's shift south to Tasmania or further west in Australia. Japan could have complicated the supply of Australia but not isolated it.

[@saltyroe3179]

@@gagamba9198 Japan wanted to control thr Coral Sea. From bases on the Coral Sea, Japan could effectively cut off Australia from US resupply.

[@michaelzahnle5649]

Kudos for using old-school Risk blocks to mark key locations.

[@dave3156]

Interesting program. Always tune in to Jon's programs. Jon, you are out of uniform and you are missing two of your buddies! Thx!

[@73Trident]

Good job guys. Jon is in the conversation I'm watching.

[@mkaustralia7136]

Got to love Halsey in Noumea. One of the suburbs there today is called “Motor Pool” - right next to “Receiving”!

[@factchecker9358]

Thanks for the maps.

[@philipliethen519]

CONTENT RELEVANT TO TITLE STARTS ABOUT 38:10, leading up to that is a nice review of the historical actions in the Guadalcanal campaign. The conjecture re: lots of atom bombs is without basis (aside from the historical fact that “many” a-bombs could not have been manufactured before late 1946 or even 1947).

[@Kieselmeister]

"Planning for the invasion of the main Japanese home islands had reached its final stages, and if the landings actually took place, we might supply about fifteen atomic bombs to support the troops." - General Kenneth Nichols, commander of the nuclear weapons production side of the Manhattan Project.

[@paulobrien9248]

Why not check out Japan's first land defeats of WW2 ? These were in New Guinea . The New Guinea campaign is almost always overlooked . It was the primary goal of the Japanese in the South West Pacific . The fighting went on in New Guinea far longer and involved far greater numbers of Japanese troops than Guadalcanal . The Japanese did not view the 2 areas of combat as different campaigns . Why do almost all historians focus on Guadalcanal ? I don't want to downplay the importance of Guadalcanal by any means .But the fighting in New Guinea was just as brutal if not more so . Also in New Guinea there was no naval support at all for most of the fighting . The allied troops were on a parity or at times outnumbered by the Japanese forces . On Guadalcanal the Americans outnumbered the Japanese as well as having naval support . The number of men killed on Guadalcanal were predominantly Naval losses including as you noted almost 100 Australians. In New Guinea losses were almost all infantry or airmen. Also in New Guinea they had the disadvantage of being under the command of Douglas MacArthur .

[@zenden6564]

And Blamey... 😮

[@paulobrien9248]

@@zenden6564 Blamey was an a/hole and a total moral black hole. But he was instrumental in re organising the AIF and setting up the Jungle Divisions . But his total pandering to MacArthur and his sacking of Rowell was unforgivable . As was the fact that he like MacArthur never viewed the actual battlefields .

[@billhunter2831]

The usual jingoistic view of Australian military history

[@tonybanke3560]

You convinced me when you said MacArthur was involved

[@RogerRaleigh]

Ho that's why He was an ARMY God ! Not?

[@factchecker9358]

It would help the viewers with context of the Japanese strategies of using land based planes and carriers jointly to show the importance of that airfield development.

[@jeffcierniak1507]

I completely agree with John in regards to what Mikawa could have finished the campaign on the night of the 8th and the 9th.

[@kenmartinsen3541]

You should talk about the battle of the Coral Sea- First Carrier on Carrier battle and its implications on the battle of Midway.

[@lostiburonesoffroad4x4]

Halsey was the Key. First his fighting spirit and then helping Nimitz and MacArthur work together.

[@mikegwillis]

14:20 we were shown this clip in Australia and told this was a wounded Aussie on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea ... did you guys just use the footage to show similar conditions to Guadacanal? Thanks.

[@grumpyoldman-21]

that's off the Kokoda trail, you can see the 'fuzzy wuzzy's' hauling supplies in the background

[@mikegwillis]

@alt7488 yeah what I thought too ... also the uniforms/slouch hats

[@seanbryan4833]

Edson's troops weren't even supposed to be on that ridge. There weren't enough forces available to maintain a complete perimeter and the overall commander didn't think there'd be any threat from that direction. But Edson did, and he convinced him to station Edson's men there so they could "rest". If they hadn't been there the Japanese would have blown straight through and captured Henderson Field.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

At 17:20 Look up HMAS Canberra (D33) and how she was sunk ..........

[@yes_head]

Great stuff, and it's good to see Guadalcanal getting this kind of attention. Hopefully videos like this will help it enter the public consciousness the way that Midway has. I'd just add that, along with the things mentioned here that were keeping US submarines from contributing to this arena at the time was that they were initially supporting MacArthur's ambitions more than King's. This meant that patrols were more often than not happening farther to the west and north than in support of places like the Solomons.

[@PeteOtton]

It didn't help that we were still figuring out that the MK 14 torpedo was a dud. It took Lockwood becoming the overall sub commander and his listening to the angry frustrations of his skippers.

[@chandarsundaram1394]

You should do a segment on the barrel of Imphal-Kohima, In which the British Commonwealth forces consisting of Indians British shirts and Africans. handed the Imperial Japanese army their worst defeat on land.

[@jameshannagan4256]

I didn't know much about that series of battles even though i'm very well versed in all the US actions including all the naval battles. I just watched a long video 4-5 months ago about it and it was great, of course I had to go back and research all the earlier battles as well. It seems that this theater is very underrepresented for some reason. I was much more informed about the Australian actions thanks to a series of great, well researched, and thorough videos by a channel called hypohysterical history (I think).

[@guyh9992]

More Japanese died in the New Guinea campaign (including surrounding Australian territory of Bougainville, New Ireland and New Britain) than in India/Burma. Well over 200,000.

[@Ozone814]

if i know anything about Mr. Parshall is that he loves 'what ifs'!!

[@grahamstrouse1165]

😉

[@DougthebearRichards]

The video of the wounded man being helped through the mud is not from Guadalcanal, but of two Australians in PNG. But the image presented would equally represent both campaigns.

[@andrewwelham8633]

Love to see a show on the Manhattan Project. Specifically, how was the information by Stalin's spies communicated to the Soviets?

[@johngrose3111]

Very interesting 😊

[@saltyroe3179]

My father in law was signal corps attached to General MacArthur. He told me that they slogan was "Golden Gate in 48"

[@THEjcbella]

If this topic interests you, the movie "The Gallant Hours" (1960) starring James Cagney does a decent job telling this story.

[@kzinti100]

What about Yellow Fever? I never hear that mentioned.

[@carlcarlton764]

My two cents about the aftermath of the alternate First Battle of Savo Island. The Americans have overwhelming strength on GC and Japanese are still in the dark about the actual threat. They think they are dealing with a raid and that they've dealt with it. The Americans - with their intact fleet - will try anything and everything to get reinforcements to GC. Mac's command over at PNG comes in as a ready source.

[@eric-wb7gj]

TY 🙏🙏

[@thomasbernecky2078]

Jon is always great to listen to,. but you really need to double the "Absolutely Fantastics" please?

[@mitchellhawkes22]

So strange that in October 1942 Bull Halsey was rightly considered the Essential Man needed to restore the Pacific War situation. But -- by summer of 1945, most of the high naval powers were looking for a place to stash Halsey away so he could no more harm.

[@PeteOtton]

Halsey was great for newspaper headlines and the newsreels. He gave the navy much needed positive publicity, something the Secretary of the Navy understood was needed for morale on the home front. He managed to get the devotion of the men under him and was willing to do the almost insane without thinking his bosses were nuts. However, by 1944 the size of the navy and the fleet was too large and complex for Halsey who was a touch to rash and given to all or nothing. He also wasn't quite the strategist that Nimitz or Spruance were.

[@timpetta2974]

History, well-documented.

[@Trecesolotienesdos]

The USA had way more industrial output. Even with them being involved in Europe at the time. Japan was also being pushed back in Burma.

[@davidwatson8118]

August wasn't Summer in the southern hemisphere.

[@ajdean07]

Parshall we gotta get you a blue screen 😂

[@ccmardon]

My new addiction

[@josephmcbee1291]

Great discussions in this episode. I wonder, had the Japanese won at Guadalcanal, seriously delaying the inevitable Allied advances, would the U.S. have decided in 1945 to drop the first two atomic bombs on Japanese strategic bases such as Iwo Jima instead, as we might not have been in range of Japan at the time of their completion?

[@leonjones2316]

Next up the battle of the Crips and Bloods.

[@stevehofer3482]

Jon cracks me up. He always says he doesn’t do counterfactuals, then he gets suckered into opining on them anyway. Personally, I think counterfactuals are interesting.

[@happyhippo4664]

I was going to make the same comment. I guess he does do counterfactuals,😀

[@PeteOtton]

I would love to see Jon and Dr. Alexander Clarcke converse, especially with counterfactuals, that would be a fun long winding conversation. Best to have plenty of popcorn!

[@miamijules2149]

Jon Parshall…. The Man Of Many Shirts 😊

[@zazasmoka-sd6tx]

Miamijules.... The Man Of Many Cringe 🙄

[@zazasmoka846]

Miamijules...The Man Of Many Cringe 🙄

[@mkaustralia7136]

Why would the supply line to Australia just have gone further east - even staging through New Zealand? Longer, but out of range of Guadalcanal.

[@konekillerking]

The simple answer is, the air field the Japanese were building. That longer route would still be in range of their aircraft. Yes it could have been done, but the extra time in travel also had those ships at risk for a much longer time per trip.

[@factchecker9358]

What if the Europe oriented command had said don't bother until years later?

[@kzinti100]

You don't mention Yellow Fever. Was that a problem there?

[@factchecker9358]

After showing the plane loss statistics, how about talking about the critical pilot losses for the Japanese.

[@panic_2001]

Yamato + Musashi would have had to intervene in the fighting instead of anchoring in Truk; the two Shokakus would have provided air support, as well as several destroyers with Long Lance. Little would have been left of Henderson Field.

[@ArmenianBishop]

Wait a minute: Yamato & Musashi weren't there? Did a Google check, and it's True. Definitely a Blunder!!!

[@jonparshall]

During the November naval battles, Yamato and Mutsu were at Truk; Musashi and Nagato in home waters. Bear in mind, though, that there were fuel and doctrinal constraints around the employment of those vessels, and the confined waters of Ironbottom made employing a large group of them there a very ticklish business indeed. There's nuance there; it's not black and white.

[@shawnc1016]

​@@jonparshallThe many high speed destroyer runs used a lot of fuel as well though.

[@PeteOtton]

@@jonparshall Isn't that one of the reasons the US left the old standards on the west coast until the needed floating artillery?

[@watchlearn1167]

I see JP, I click play. Happiness is that simple.

[@barelyasurvivor1257]

The US did not have dozens of Atomic Bombs, and no realistic expections of making dozens anytime soon.

[@ElJefe3126]

The US inventory grew to 9 bombs in 1946, 13 in 1947, and 50 in 1948. So, it's just a matter of picking an end date as to how many could have been dropped.

[@barelyasurvivor1257]

@@ElJefe3126 Hmm, I stand corrected then. My apologies for my mistaken facts. Guess I shouldn't rely on data and my memory from the late 1960's

[@Vandelberger]

Oh this would be interesting. Japanese tactics just did not work against western armies. The Japanese even struggled against the early Soviets. The Germans did a military review of Japan in the early 30s and their assessments were all true. They could conquer any Eastern army, but weapons, tactics etcetc could not win in the West.

[@mitchellhawkes22]

I'm not much in to "What Ifs," but I've read of the narrow victories of the Americans at Guadalcanal. Hanson & his historians here present a plausible and alarming Alternative History. If Guadalcanal had been lost, it might have come to pass the Americans would still have won this war after dropping a dozen or so "Fat Mans" on Japan. Yikes.

[@brovold72]

Good conversation; repulsively cheap clickbait-y caption. :-(

[@jamesricker3997]

It would only delay the inevitable and make things worse for Japan as more u s resources would be devoted to Japan. Germany would get an extra week or two of existence

[@watchlearn1167]

43:53 if King keeps his job after losing Guadal Canal then Nimitiz would not. I'm a Nimitiz guy all the way but, King was not.

[@PeteOtton]

It depends on the heat FDR was feeling. He wanted Nimitz. King only left Nimitz in command because Nimitz was FDR's choice. And with the loss of shipping due to slow convoy adoption and lack of escorts with a disastrous Guadalcanal campaign it might have done both of them in.

[@normoloid]

But didn't it take long time to enrich enough fissile matter to those 2 bombs and test bomb alone, and what i've understood it cost huge amounts of money too.. More likely bigger, more important cities would have been nuked, rest of country bombed with conventional bombs and land invasions all over the coastline?

[@markkirby9531]

I found one aspect of this video a little misleading. They kept dragging the pointer from Hawaii to Australia, in a straight line, when discussing how the fall of Guadalcanal would interdict the supply lines to Australia. Ships are not railroads, they can change their course and divert further south to stay out of range of Japanese planes based on Guadalcanal. Yes, this could add some time to the voyage, and consume more fuel, but it wouldn't stop them completely.

[@Vito_Tuxedo]

@markkirby9531 - Right, it wouldn't stop them completely, but it would extend the Japanese front line that much farther South and East, potentially giving then another Rabaul. Such an extended perimeter would include naval surface and submarine assets, and those definitely *_would_* be a threat to Allied shipping, even with more southerly shipping lanes. And with Japanese air cover, Guadalcanal would be much harder to retake.

[@surferdude4487]

I do have a problem with your final conclusion. The USA was not rolling in nuclear weapons. Refining the fuel for those things was only just possible. The USA dropped two bombs because that was what they had.

[@mad_max21]

You thought the delay the US get to the Japanese mainland wouldn't give the US time to refine more nuclear fuels?

[@Kieselmeister]

The USA only dropped 2 bombs on cities because they were stockpiling them for the invasion of Japan. To quote Kenneth Nichols the commander of the engineering side of the Manhattan Project: "Planning for the invasion of the main Japanese home islands had reached its final stages, and if the landings actually took place, we might supply about fifteen atomic bombs to support the troops."

[@PeteOtton]

If my memory serves me, a third bomb was being prepared, the planned drop date was late August to mid September if the Japanese didn't surrender.

[@MinhNguyen-cn8kx]

Fantastico Guardalcanal... Respect from Vietnam.. Allahu akhbar

[@somebodyelse836]

Pokémon vs 5 card stud.......

[@markaxworthy2508]

Guadalcanal may well have been irrelevant. Japan was not approached through the New Guinea Philippines axis in the end. The atom bombs arrived across the open Pacific axis, not via Australia.

[@PeteOtton]

Guadalcanal and Papua New Guinea were the meat grinder that chewed up the Japanese. It caused them losses in ships, planes, and men they could not replace. Guadalcanal shook up the USN and incompetent leaders were killed or beached leaving room for competent leaders to emerge.

[@questprotector]

if the japanese had won at midway, there would not have been a guadalcanal.

[@jurgschupbach3059]

Or a Port Moresby to defend succesfuly

BROVO USMC

[@johnnyg3166]

They forgot to mention battleships. 2 Japanese battleships are sitting at the bottom of iron bottom sound

[@s1nb4d59]

Bro they didnt even have the atomic bomb back then.

[@bidenator9760]

They would drop them after they got them

[@panderson9561]

@@bidenator9760 US didn't have "dozens" of atomic bombs until sometime in the latter 1940s.

[@adamstrange7884]

The bomb wasn't available until after June 1945, 1945 happened after 1942.

[@brucepoole8552]

All these what ifs, pointless, the industrial ability coupled with the military ability the USA had at the time, well, japan was idiotic to say the least

[@mattzegarski3831]

48:55 I'm fairly sure we wouldn't have had dozens of nuclear bombs until some time in the early '50s. We didn't really have a 4th bomb to deliver in late August '45.

[@willboudreau1187]

Why in the christ are "journalists" being listened to in deciding to sack Gormley???

[@77gravity]

I don't have numbers, but America did not HAVE dozens more bombs, they did not have the capacity to build dozens more bombs. It took a long time to make the fissile material for those first 3 bombs, and it would have taken quite a while before they had ANY more devices, and dozens of bombs would have taken YEARS.

[@davidpitchford6510]

If America↘"Had" ↙Lost. Sorry but I grieve for the decline of written English even on channels like this that should know and do better.

[@hazchemel]

Should it be, "were to lose"?

[@timphillips9954]

The first major land offensive was on mainland Asia. The bulk of the fighting was on the mainland on not on the islands. Please don't rewrite history just for American click bait.

[@georgeburns7251]

say what?

[@majorintel9623]

Yamamoto did not understand that Operation MO, to capture Port Moresby, was his chance for a decisive battle against the US Navy - closer to his turf. He could have sunk two US carriers AND captured Port Moresby and Gili Gili. All he had to do was add two more fleet carriers to MO, maybe even just one more carrier. But he was fixated on Midway, far away from land bases to provide him some support. All japan had to do was send in their four old battleships to bombard Henderson, the Ise and.... Yama.. something class. The marines didn't do much. They landed without almost no opposition, and then mostly just sat thefe for six months.

[@majorintel9623]

What was REALLY important was the japanese failure to take Port Moresby. A glance at a map shows you how Port Moresby and Gili Gili dominate the region, not Guadalcanal. And Guadalcanal was much too far away from US supply lines to Australia. The stretch from Giadalcanal to Vanuatu and Noumea is out of range if anyones fighters. Saying the japanese could have threatened US supply lines to Australia is a CLICHE.

[@georgenelson8917]

What if I win the lottery or tinker bell or Taylor Swift was my girlfriend or Donald Duck was REALY Jesus .

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Why not check out Japan's first land defeats of WW2 ? These were in New Guinea . The New Guinea campaign is almost always overlooked . It was the primary goal of the Japanese in the South West Pacific . The fighting went on in New Guinea far longer and involved far greater numbers of Japanese troops than Guadalcanal . The Japanese did not view the 2 areas of combat as different campaigns . Why do almost all historians focus on Guadalcanal ? I don't want to downplay the importance of Guadalcanal by any means .But the fighting in New Guinea was just as brutal if not more so . Also in New Guinea there was no naval support at all for most of the fighting . The allied troops were on a parity or at times outnumbered by the Japanese forces . On Guadalcanal the Americans outnumbered the Japanese as well as having naval support . The number of men killed on Guadalcanal were predominantly Naval losses including as you noted almost 1,000 Australians. In New Guinea losses were almost all infantry or airmen. Also in New Guinea they had the disadvantage of being under the command of Douglas MacArthur .