Transcript
As the Japanese empire spread its way across the Pacific, the then-British Solomon Islands fell in May 1942.
Now on the fringes of Australia and New Zealand, the Japanese forces began building an airfield with forced labour.
An organiser of this year's commemorations, Dorothy Wickham, says the Japanese held the Solomons for three months until thousands of US Marines launched a surprise attack.
What followed was five months of bloody battle that dragged back-and-forth across the hills, jungles and swamps of Guadalcanal in the blistering tropical heat.
"There were so many people running around in places that were unreachable. We're not just talking the streets here, we're talking in the bushes, on the sea, up the rivers and mountains. It changed a lot of Solomon Islanders."
The toll was huge: Nearly 38,000 soldiers - most of them Japanese - died during the campaign, 105 ships were sunk, and about 1,000 planes were shot down.
But little is known about the effect on Solomon Islanders, including how many of the local population died.
What is known, though, is that many were recruited by the allies as either labourers, scouts or coastwatchers, who would act as eyes, ears and rescuers - including for one American named John F Kennedy.
Sir Bruce Saunders is from the Solomons Scouts and Coastwatchers Trust.
"On our monument is the words from Admiral Halsey, which says 'if it wasn't for the Solomons Scouts and Coastwatchers, there would be no Guadalcanal and if there was no Guadalcanal there would have been no victory in the Pacific.' They played a role that was significant in giving advanced warning, they provided a network throughout the island for safety and also saving downed airmen and seamen."
Eventually, the Americans won a battle that is regarded as a pivotal moment in the Pacific war, where momentum shifted and the push back west began in earnest.
The permanent secretary of the culture ministry, Andrew Nihopara, says those five months had a lasting effect in Solomon Islands, too.
Much of the infrastructure - such as the roads, airports and significant buildings, were built in the war, and traditional societal patterns were thrown into upheaval.
Mr Nihopara says until the war, apart from limited colonial experience, the country had had little interaction with the outside world.
"That particular event actually shaped the Solomon Island society in many ways. There's a lot of things the Solomon Islands people would have learned from that event. It would have shaped a lot of lives, changed a lot of lives, and people would have looked at the world differently. There were foreigners in this country at a scale that hasn't been seen before."
It also had longer-lasting effects, as the Solomon Islands historian, David Gegeo, writes, it also provided a thirst for self-rule.
The islanders had watched the British retreat, and the Americans sowed an idea of independence.
One of the primary outcomes was the formation of the Maasina Rule, many of whose leaders served in the war, that drove for independence until it was eventually granted in 1978.
To mark the anniversary, a week of commemorations has been planned including memorial services, conferences, and visits by warships and dignitaries from the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
Dorothy Wickham says it will also be used to pay homage to the few remaining survivors.
"I think it's the last big one that they'll have because it's obviously 75 years now. I think we have only three or two veterans left from this battle."
But Ms Wickham says it will also serve as a reminder. Conflict has returned to Guadalcanal since the Second World War, most notably when the country descended into ethnic violence in the late 1990s.
"This is one of the reasons why the government really wants to remind us now with the exit of RAMSI, what war is and the results of war, and I think this anniversary is an important part of teaching our children about our history and what war is, and how much loss there is in such a battle."
Today, services will be held in Honiara - led by the government and the commandant of the US Marines - before the site of Bloody Ridge, a key battleground, is declared a national park.
