Guadalcanal

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Guadalcanal
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Raising the Colors on Guadalcanal after the
initial landings, circa 7 August 1942.
8 months to the day after the sneak attack on
Pearl harbor, 11,000 Marines landed on
Guadalcanal after a lengthy naval and air
bombardment. The landing was not contested by the
Japanese and the airfield was secured that first
day.
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Japanese Navy Type 1 land attack planes (later
nicknamed "Betty") fly low through anti-aircraft
gunfire during a torpedo attack on U.S. Navy
ships maneuvering between Guadalcanal and Tulagi
in the morning of 8 August 1942.
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The night of the 21st of August was the scene of
another "Banzai" attack against Henderson Field.
l,000 Japanese ran screaming into the Marine
positions and 800 were killed before morning.
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The battle for the island continued with the
Americans landing troops and supplies during
daylight hours and the Japanese doing the same
after dark. This procedure the Japanese used with
ships (mostly destroyers) shuttling troops in at
night became known to the Marines as "the Tokyo
Express."
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Heavy tropical downpours at Guadalcanal all but
flood out a Marine camp near Henderson Field, and
the field as well. Marines' damp clothing and
bedding contributed to the heavy incidence of
tormenting skin infections and fungal disorders.
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The "Tokyo Express" dropped off another 6,000
troops and on the 13th of September, 3,500 of
them hit the south perimeter of the airfield.
This area was defended by the 1st Marine Raider
Battalion. They were dug in on a ridge and bore
the brunt of wave after wave of "banzai" attacks.

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On 11 October, U.S. Navy surface ships took a
hand in stopping the "Tokyo Express," the
nickname that had been given to Admiral Tanaka's
almost nightly reinforcement forays. A covering
force of five cruisers and five destroyers, got
word that many ships were approaching
Guadalcanal. The mission was to protect an
approaching reinforcement convoy.
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Alerted by a scout plane from the flagship, San
Francisco, and later confirmed by radar contacts,
the Americans opened fire before the Japanese,
who had no radar, knew of their presence. One
enemy destroyer sank immediately, two cruisers
were badly damaged, one, the Furutaka, later
foundered, and the remaining cruiser and
destroyer turned away from the inferno of
American fire. Scott's own force was punished by
enemy return fire which damaged two cruisers and
two destroyers. Later, flyers spotted two of the
reinforcement destroyer escorts leaving and sank
them both. The Battle of Cape Esperance could be
counted an American naval victory, one sorely
needed at the time.
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The departure of the enemy naval force marked a
period in which substantial reinforcements
reached the island. The headquarters of the 2d
Marines had finally found transport space to come
up from Espiritu Santo and in late October, the
1st and 2d Battalions relieved the well-blooded
3d, which took up the Tulagi duties.
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A M1918 155mm howitzer is fired by artillery
crewmen of the 11th Marines in support of ground
forces attacking the enemy.
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Between August and November of 1942, the
seemingly irresistible advance of the Japanese
collided head-on with the scanty forces which the
United States could throw in their path. By the
end of November, the enemy had been halted on the
ground, turned back at sea, and virtually driven
from the air above Guadalcanal.
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After 7 August 1942, when U.S. Marines opened the
assault, the Japanese never again advanced beyond
the Pacific positions which they held at that
time. Their succeeding movements throughout the
war were always to the rear.
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On January 3rd 1943, Japanese headquarters
conceded defeat and ordered the evacuation of
their remaining troops from Guadalcanal and on
the 7th the last of the defeated Japanese left
the island via destroyers. They left 25,000 dead
on the island and between 600 and 900 pilots in
the sea.
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