I would like to build a model for my neighbor, he participated in the battle of Bougainville.I am trying to find out the aircraft that he said saved his life.His battlefield description is of trying to take a hill or mountain with Japanese defenders on top, he describes being pinned down for days and of a long line of fellow marines laying dead in front of him picked off by Japanese defenders .He stated the aircraft had a machine gunner in the back of a two seat fighter plane,what most likely was the plane? I am reluctant to badger him any further as he gets quite emotional and I am worried his wife may get upset with me

Dave, the good old Aussie Wirraway was a 2-seater light bomber/ground attack aircraft that was based in Bougainville, but I don't think it had a rear gunner. This might be the bird you are after.

CAC Wirraway

Cheers, D

It was most likely a Grumman TBF Avenger Torpedo Bomber, either USN or USMC.

Might have been a Dauntless as well.

I will show him all three pics, thanks to you all I saved hours of research and can get on with the build, he is quite elderly

If your pal was a Marine you're looking at the original invasion of Bougainville which took place in November 1943: 3d Marine Division was the invading force. (I wrote a chapter about the campaign in a book called Touched with Fire.) It was one of the truly foul places on earth and everyone who landed hated the place. The initial landing had some very ugly moments but they were scattered. The Japanese were expecting some move against Bougainville but guessed Halsey would invade on the eastern shore near the major airfield complex of Buin. (Buin was the base Yamamoto was flying to when shot down in April.) Instead the Marines hit Torokina Bay on the west side. Air cover could have come from Saratoga & Princeton but I doubt it - they were in the battle for only a few days and notched a stunning victory over Combined Fleet's cruiser force at anchor in Rabaul. (It was the first use of a US carrier in the Solmons since the Enterprise had left in January 43. Quite a return.) Sara also hit the adjoining island of Buka (part of the Buin complex.) The Solomons by November 43 had a large and integrated USN/Marine/Army air effort. (RNZAF were there too, especially if Kiwi forces were employed - they weren't at Bougainville until 1944. The RAAF had their hands full in New Guinea.) Both SBDs and TBFs were land based in the Solomons: they were likely flying out of a number of small bases west of Guadalcanal. (Seabees were busy as hell making little strips on places like Vella Lavella: all forgotten by VJ Day.) Fighter cover would have been from USAAF P38s at Guadalcanal or Marine Corsairs most likely Munda Point on New Georgia. Navy Hellcats were out there too waiting for their new carriers to come into commission. Anyway, I'd guess a Marine Dauntless or Avenger. You can bet Marine air units took supporting Marines very seriously. Semper Fi. (Ironically, outside of Guadalcanal and some Marine Raider units on New Georgia, the Solmons was mostly an Army show and the Marine air units were usually supporting Army moves or simply pounding Bougainville and Rabaul. It was a very fierce fight in 1943.)

The Solomons were the Marine pilots day in the sun. Started out with the epic at Guadalcanal and because the Navy couldn't figure out how to use Corsairs on carriers, the Marines got them and used them out of land bases. Hollywood even made a TV series out of the "Black Sheep." (The famous Jolly Rogers were Navy and also land based.) When Rabaul was bypassed the Marines were largely observers in the Pacific air war until the Navy decided they wanted Corsairs to fight Kamikaze attacks. Great pilots like Joe Foss and Marion Carl didn't see a Japanese aircraft on their second tours in places like the Admiralty Islands.

The big battle at Bougainville took place in March 1944 when the Japanese Army dragged some 25,000 men across a very large island and attacked an American line held by an Army Corps and bristling with artillery. The Japanese launched a series of night attacks in a five day period and were smashed - it was the biggest single battle in the Solomons campaign and virtually unknown today. In November the Australians and Kiwis took over the job of "mopping up" the entire Rabaul area - an utterly pointless campaign that was fought with great care. Tokyo had lost contact with Rabaul and most of New Guinea by late 44 and simply assumed that their entire force of 300,000 men had died. The Japanese were shocked to find out that over 200,000 were still alive (some near starvation, others living rather well in military agricultural communes: Rabaul had a functioning dental clinic). At least the Aussies and Kiwis were smart enough not to push hard and waste lives. As it was, the entire area became a kind of "live fire" zone for rookie pilots heading to more important tasks under General Kenney. So you had junior birdmen crashing into the surf, or getting lost, or dying of stupidity attacking targets of no military value whatsoever. What a wacko ending for extraordinary campaign that started at Guadalcanal and Kokada almost simultaneously.

Bad vibes all around really. And to make things sweet, Bougainville had two nasty wars against the government of Papua New Guinea causing thousands of deaths. I can think of few places on earth I'd least rather visit.