Editing Munda, Solomon Islands (section)

==History==
The Colonial Office had appointed [[Charles Morris Woodford]] as the Resident Commissioner in the [[Solomon Islands]] on 17 February 1897. He was directed to control the [[Blackbirding|labour trade]] operating in the Solomon Island waters and to stop the illegal trade in firearms.<ref name="AC1">{{cite book|first1=Austin|last1=Coates|author-link=Austin Coates|title=Western Pacific Islands|place=London|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|isbn=978-0118804288|year=1970|page=228}}</ref> [[Arthur William Mahaffy|Arthur Mahaffy]] was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner to Woodford in January 1898.<ref name="BRL7a">{{cite book |last1= Lawrence |first1= David Russell |title= The Naturalist and his "Beautiful Islands": Charles Morris Woodford in the Western Pacific|date= October 2014|publisher=ANU Press |doi=10.22459/NBI.10.2014|isbn=9781925022032|pages=198–206 |chapter= Chapter 7 Expansion of the Protectorate 1898–1900  |chapter-url= http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p298111/pdf/ch073.pdf |doi-access= free }}</ref> In January 1900, Mahaffy established a government station at [[Gizo, Solomon Islands|Gizo]], as Woodford considered Mahaffy’s military training as making him suitable for the role of suppressing [[headhunting]] in [[New Georgia]] and neighbouring islands.<ref name="BRL7a"/><ref name="AC2">{{cite book|first1=Austin|last1=Coates|author-link=Austin Coates|title=Western Pacific Islands|place=London|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|isbn=978-0118804288|year=1970|page=229}}</ref> Mahaffy had a force of twenty-five police armed with rifles.<ref name="AWM">{{cite web| last = | first = |title= Mahaffy, Arthur (1869 - 1919)|publisher= Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopaedia 1893-1978|page=|year =2003 |url= https://aim25.com/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=17794&inst_id=126&nv1=search&nv2=| accessdate=24 March 2024}}</ref>  The first target of this force was chief Ingava of the Roviana Lagoon who had been raiding [[Choiseul Province|Choiseul]]  and [[Isabel]] and killing or enslaves hundreds  of people.<ref name="AWM"/>

Mahaffy and the police officers under his command carried out a violent and ruthless suppression of headhunting, with his actions having the support of  Woodford and the [[Western Pacific High Commission]], who wanted to eradicate headhunting and complete a  “pacification” of the western Solomon Islands.<ref name="BRL7a"/> Mahaffy seized and destroyed  large war canoes (''tomokos''). One of which was used to transport the police officers.<ref name="AWM"/>

The [[Methodism|Methodist]] Mission in the [[Western Province (Solomon Islands)|Western Province]] was established by Rev. John Frances Goldie in 1902. He dominated the mission and gained the loyalty of Solomon Islander members of his church.<ref name="DMcD">{{cite web|last=Dr. Debra McDougall|title=Religious institutions as Alternative Structures in post-conflict Solomon Islands: Cases from Western Province|year=2008|url=http://westernsolomons.uib.no/people/mcdougall.php|publisher=For State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Discussion Paper Series, 08/05, Australian National University|access-date=4 Oct 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918214717/http://westernsolomons.uib.no/people/mcdougall.php|archive-date=18 September 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The relationship with the colonial administrators of the  British Solomon Island Protectorate were also fraught with difficulty, at this time due to Goldie's effective control over the Western Solomon Islands.<ref name="DMcD"/> From 1927 to 1934 [[Edward Sayers (doctor)|Dr Edward Sayers]] worked at the [[Methodism|Methodist]] mission where he established a hospital at Munda and also at [[Gizo, Solomon Islands|Gizo]] and [[Vella Lavella]], and carried out fieldwork in the treatment of [[malaria]].<ref>Sayers, E. G. (1943) ''Malaria in the South Pacific with Special Reference to the Solomon Islands''. New Zealand Government Printing Office</ref>

In November 1942, during [[World War II]], the town became strategically important after [[Japan]]ese forces built an [[airstrip]] (on the site of today's [[Munda Airport]]) to support Japanese forces fighting the [[Battle of Guadalcanal]]. A Japanese convoy put into Munda Point on 24 November 1942, and started construction under careful concealment from the air by means of rows of [[coconut palm]]s suspended by cable. The airstrip was discovered by American planes on 3 December, and the first [[airstrike]]s were delivered by [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers on 9 December. However, the Japanese were able to use Munda despite regular bombardment from both air and sea, and the Allies launched [[Operation Cartwheel]] in order to drive the Japanese out of the Solomons and ultimately eliminate the large Japanese base at [[Rabaul]]. The [[New Georgia Campaign]] was launched in late June, 1943 when mainly American but also Pacific Islander troops conducted the [[Landings on Rendova]] and several other amphibious operations throughout the New Georgia Group. 
The Allied forces spent July 1943 conducting the [[Drive on Munda Point]], shelling and bombing Japanese forces in and around Munda Airfield, fighting off a [[New Georgia counterattack|large Japanese counterattack]], and eventually closing in on Munda overland, capturing it on 4–5 August during the [[Battle of Munda Point]]. The heavy fighting left thousands dead on both sides and many more wounded.