Historian missed this somehow... ! (A first?) :grouphug: Solomon Islands to honour scouts and coastwatchers’ service in WW2 Posted at 03:20 on 05 August, 2011 UTC at Solomon Islands to honour scouts and coastwatchers’ service in WW2 The first memorial to honour Solomon Islands World War II scouts and coast watchers is being unveiled in Honiara this Sunday, the 69th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Guadalcanal. Spokesperson, Bruce Saunders, says the Pride of Our Nation memorial was commissioned by a local trust to ensure the war service and bravery of Solomon Islanders was remembered and to engender national pride. He says the scouts kept the coast watchers safe and also gathered information on the enemy’s movement. “Which they could feed back to the coastwatcher who could then pass it on through their intelligence system back to Australia and gain vital information so it was major, as the US Navy Commander Halsey said, if it wasn’t for the coast watchers and scouts there wouldn’t have been Guadalcanal and without Guadalcanal there’d have been no success in the Pacific.” The monument will be sited at Point Cruz in Honiara. And that's the news. News Content © Radio New Zealand International PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand