Welcome to
The South Pacific WWII Museum

From the birthplace of Tales of the South Pacific and the service of three American Presidents – including a First Lady from another – and the heroic actions of young aviators, soldiers, and sailors that became legendary, emerges a forgotten wartime history that many have overlooked and others are unaware of.

Base Button, located on the peaceful island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu, transformed tranquil coconut plantations into the largest military base in the South Pacific during World War II. This base hosted over 500,000 service men and women throughout the war.

Now, we are sharing this history with the descendants of those who supported the Allied war effort in the Pacific. Our plan is to expand into a new world-class museum building, preserving and passing on the remarkable history of the region formerly known as New Hebrides to future generations of Ni-Vanuatu and visitors from around the world.

Honouring the many

Latest news from the Museum project.

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USS Strong takes centre stage

The Museum has created a very special memorial to commemorate the 46 lives lost when the US Navy destroyer, USS Strong sank off the Solomon Islands in July 1943. You can read more about the memorial here.

News in brief

Nov 4 – An interesting mix of stories this month. With everything from our latest donations and new staff members to unseen photos of the Coolidge, tales of a former landholder and of course the Coolidge commemoration, it’s been quite a month. We hope you enjoy the October newsletter that you can find here.  

August newsletter cover
Oct 4 – It’s been a frantic month for Marina and the team at the Museum, with a record five cruise ships docking in Luganville in September. Around 500 passengers came to visit us, still making the museum the number one tourist destination in town. Lots of interesting feature stories this month focusing on the World War II history of Espiritu Santo. From bombsights to Boyington, and even a ship that hit a mine but sailed on to dock in Luganville. All this and more in this month’s newsletter that you can find here.

August newsletter cover

Sept 6 – An interesting month at the museum, with lots going on in the background, including lots more planning following an epic 5-hour board meeting. This month’s newsletter certainly has a Guadalcanal feeling about it, given it’s the 80th anniversary of the famous battle. In fact one story comes from an amateur historian predicting the outcome while the other, the US Navy’s official historian, documents it. There’s also a story about George the cat, a battleship dwelling companion, paralympic heroes and much more. All this and more in this month’s newsletter that you can find here. August newsletter cover

Aug 5 – July was a very special month for the museum. Tammi Johnson joined us from Kentucky to unveil the new USS Strong memorial. It has been created by the Museum to remember the 46 sailors who went down with the ship in July 1943. We’ve also got a great story on two amazing dives by Museum board member Mayumi Green and her husband Kevin on a Catalina and a WWII tugboat. Plus, we’re re-running the remarkable story of Hugh Barr Miller Jr. A Strong survivor who went on to fight Japanese forces single handedly, on a small island, before being rescued. All this and more in this month’s newsletter that you can find here.

July newsletter cover

Jul 5 – The June issue of our museum newsletter has just come out and features lots of news from Santo. We share in the great news that Solomon Airlines will again be flying the Brisbane/Luganville route, allowing tourists to fly here direct! We have also had a new intern join us from the United States who’s really ‘mucking in’ and making some fantastic changes to our exhibits. Plus some great work by New Zealand Navy divers and more great reading in this month’s Museum newsletter you’ll find  here. June newsletter cover

New Museum gallery opens

The new Museum Gallery continues to wow visitors from all over the world. (story)

Say hi to Raymond Lemy Nacisse

Our newest Museum staff member comes from a diverse background of volunteering. (story)

Swire Shipping donates container

The generous support of the global shipping giant will assist our expansion plans. (story)

The South Pacific WWII Museum and Project Office is now open.
Visit us Monday – Friday from 8.00am – 5.00pm.

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