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.
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
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.
New Museum gallery opens
Say hi to Raymond Lemy Nacisse
Our newest Museum staff member comes from a diverse background of volunteering. (story)
