PM SOGAVARE GRACED WWII EVENTS THIS WEEK
This week Prime Minister Hon. Manasseh Sogavare MP has graced three important events relating to the Second World War.
The Second World War in the Pacific was heavily fought on Guadalcanal Island, and it was on this island that the Japanese Imperial Army was defeated ending the war in the Pacific.
Annually the country commemorates and pay tribute to the Allied Forces and a group of locals known as Scouts and Coastwatchers’ during the Second World War.
The Allied Forces used the local expertise of Scouts and Coastwatchers’ to navigate the valleys, hills and trenches of Guadalcanal Island to attack the Japanese. Both the Allied Forces and our very own Scouts and Coastwatchers’ played a crucial role in shaping the history of our country to what it is today.
Although the Prime Minister graced the events without giving a speech, his attendance is significant in that he represented the government and the people of Solomon Islands.
On Monday early morning of this week, at the American Memorial Monument at Skyline, Prime Minister Sogavare was invited to place a wreath to remember the members of the Allied Forces who sacrificed their lives to defend democracy. In laying the wreath, PM Sogavare has represented the government and people of Solomon Islands.
On the same day, PM Sogavare was invited to place a wreath to commemorate the bravery of the local Scouts and Coastwatchers’ who have played a pivotal role in assisting the Allied Forces. Again in that wreath laying ceremony, the Prime Minister has represented the government and the people of Solomon Islands.
Today the Prime Minister has graced the commemoration of HMAS Canberra, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) heavy cruiser that was badly torpedoed near Savo Island on 9th August 1942.
Prime Minister Sogavare- Wreath laying during the HMAS Canberra Memorial Service.
HMAS Canberra was part of a screening naval force combination of the US Navy and RAN. The screening force’s role was to screen the seas and shorelines of Guadalcanal for enemies as the Allied Forces made their landing on the Island.
PM Sogavare was invited to place a wreath in remembrance of HMAS Canberra, and its crews onboard on that fateful day. In placing the wreath at the Rove Police Park, the Prime Minister has represented the government and people of Solomon Islands.
Prime Minister’s attendance in these War World Two related events is to acknowledge and pay tribute to the sacrifices of the Allied Forces’ members and our local heroes, the Scouts and the Coastwatcher’s.
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– OPMC PRESS SECRETARIAT