The campaign followed the successful Allied defensive actions at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway in May and June, 1942. Along with the battles at Milne Bay and Buna–Gona, the Guadalcanal campaign marked the Allies' transition from defensive operations to offensive ones and effectively seized the strategic initiative in the Pacific theater from the Japanese. The campaign was followed by other Allied offensives in the Pacific, most notably: the Solomon Islands campaign, New Guinea campaign, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines campaign (1944–1945), and the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign prior to the surrender of Japan in August, 1945.