More than eight decades ago in the 1940s, World War II raged across the Pacific as ferocious battles took place between the Allies and Japan. One of the most significant events was at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands where the Japanese advance on the Pacific was stopped by the Allies and where around 30,000 lives were lost.
Just over eight decades later, the deadly legacy of the battle continues. On Foreign Correspondent this week reporter Stephanie March meets the Solomon Islanders who are still being severely impacted by the war in the Pacific.
On land, the islands are littered with unexploded devices – almost 50,000 have been discovered since 2011. Accidental detonations of the bombs and other munitions have caused deaths and injuries and survivors are left to struggle for themselves with very little support.
In the water surrounding the islands hundreds of corroding shipwrecks from the war still contain trapped oil supplies which some describe as a ticking timebomb. A major oil spill from one of these rusting wrecks could be a massive disaster.
The Solomon Islanders believe those who fought a war on their land should be doing more to clean up the mess they left behind. In the worlds of one local: “When the war ended US, Japanese and allied forces went home in peace. We still do not have peace, until we are safe here in the Solomon Islands.”
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Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia's national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC's television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on war, natural calamity and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all.
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