New Georgia Islands with Vella Lavella at upper-left

Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Western Province is one of the provinces of the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Group. New Georgia is the largest Island of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The New Georgia Islands are part of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. To its west is the Treasury Islands. Treasury Islands ( are a small group of islands a few kilometers to the south of Bougainville and 24 kilometers from the Shortland Islands.

The sea around the island was the site of the Naval Battle of Vella Lavella in World War II. The Battle of Vella Lavella (Japanese 第二次ベララベラ海戦 was a Naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

During World War II, Vella Lavella was the home base for VMF-214 (the "Black Sheep," led by Gregory Boyington). "The Black Sheep" redirects here for other uses see Black Sheep. Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington USMC, (December 4 1912 - January 11 1988 was an American fighter ace. For convenience, the TV series " Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" renamed the island to "Vella La Cava. Baa Baa Black Sheep (later syndicated as Black Sheep Squadron) is a Television series that aired on NBC from 1976 until 1978 "

Google Earth overhead images show what may be the remains of the Marines' airfield.