The first recorded sighting of Kolombangara by western explorers was in 1568 by the Spanish explorer
Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira. On March 15, 1893, Kolombangara was declared part of the
British Solomon Islands protectorate. The island was occupied by the
Empire of Japan in the early stages of the
Pacific War.
World War II During
World War II the island and the waters around it were the scene of much fighting. The
Imperial Japanese Army used an airstrip on some flat ground at
Vila on the south shore of the island, and in May 1943 based several military units with over ten thousand troops garrisoned on the southeast side of the island under the command of Major General
Minoru Sasaki, in an attempt to establish a defence line through the Central Solomons. Naval battles nearby included the
Battle of Kula Gulf and the
Battle of Kolombangara. The most famous battle was the mission to intercept the
Tokyo Express supply convoy which resulted in the ramming and explosion of
USN patrol torpedo boat PT-109 commanded by
John F. Kennedy. Australian
coastwatcher,
Sub-lieutenant Arthur Reginald Evans, who manned a secret observation post at the top of the island's Mount Veve volcano, spotted the explosion. After decoding news that the explosion he had witnessed was probably from the lost
PT-109 he dispatched
Solomon Islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana in a
dugout canoe to look for possible survivors. Their efforts led to the subsequent discovery and rescue of John F. Kennedy and the surviving crew. After destroyers succeeded in sinking the supply ships three nights later and isolating the garrison of 12,400 there, US forces were able to "leapfrog" Kolombangara to land on
Vella Lavella to the west. The Japanese evacuated Kolombangara between September 23 and October 4, 1943. In January 1944 a detachment of one officer and six enlisted men from the 350th Engineer General Service Regiment stationed at
Munda established a vegetable farm on the abandoned Japanese airstrip at Vila. The British government assigned sixteen Solomon Island men to help with the project. With seeds acquired through the
Red Cross, many vegetables were sent back to the base hospital to supplement the dehydrated meals served the recuperating veterans. The main item was
watermelons.
Post-World War II Since 1978, the island has been part of the independent state of
Solomon Islands. Beginning in 2019, the Chinese state-owned China Forestry Group Corporation expressed interest in purchasing the hardwood forestry plantation that makes up much of the island, including a port and former airstrip that could be used as a base for Chinese military assets. ==References==