HOW THE WEST WAS WON

World War II came without warning or invitation for the people of the South Pacific and brought issues that few understood. The war became a period of excitement, hardship, and at the same time, of material abundance. Their islands, the place they called their homes, were abruptly exposed and used as never before to new outside influences and by uninvited guests. "Their harbours were used by fleets of warships, while onshore bases were built to house troops, and landing fields were constructed to service a suddenly created aircraft traffic," (Howe 156). Pacific Islanders were for the most part, observers of the war and the turmoil it generated, rather than constituents. Although there were a number of them who were actively and directly entangled and played crucial roles, there are still very few published accounts of Pacific Islanders’ camaraderie in the war. Their involvement had gradually disappeared over the years in the record books, as so did their island paradise.

World War II cast a dark shadow in the South Pacific. The Islanders were in no doubt victims of the war, mere bystanders, innocent, and oblivious to the outside world before the invasion. It was a terrible and untamed place to fight a war. The South P

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However, within the desires of the Islanders, came demands.

The early stages of the war touched a small percentage of the indigenous population, those who were swept up in the conflict, played vital roles. Malaria is caused by a parasite transmitted through the bite of the female anopheles mosquito. They introduced them to ice cream, donuts, canned meat, and they began to watch movies for the very first time in theaters the outsiders built. There were now greater needs and wants for new things, they began to speak only of dollars and Americans.

Although the early stage of the war touched only a small percentage of the indigenous population, those who were involved, did however, play very important roles. "The battle lines were clearly drawn and provided a basis on which Pacific Islanders could be classified according to the way they would experience the war," (Howe 154). For these reasons, the natives began to side with the United States and their Allies. Although most are now deserted, "…much of the formerly productive garden or plantation land lies lost beneath a layer of compacted crushed coral or concrete," (Howe 166). This was just the beginning of what was to grow into a self-sustaining movement, as people came to recognize materials of the outside world. There were areas where people were barely aware that war was even taking place. Yet there were thousands of native people who over the centuries had made the South Pacific their homes and seem to have made peace with its fierce nature and an unpredictable environment. The Allies brought soap, beer, and ready-made cigarettes to the islands. Gradually, as the war increased pressures on the Japanese military, their hostility also grew towards the natives.

"Native guides were a fixture of the war in the South Pacific," (Bergerud 114).

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