The Battle of Guadalcanal
Battle of GuadalcanalPart of World War II, Pacific War
U.S. Marines rest in the field on Guadalcanal, circa August-December 1942
Date: / August 7, 1942 - February 9, 1943
Location: / Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
Result: / Allied victory
Combatants
United States,
New Zealand,
Australia, Fiji, Tonga,
Solomon Islands / Japan
Commanders
Frank Fletcher (tactical commander)
Alexander Vandegrift (ground force commander) / Hyakutake Haruyoshi (ground forces)
Gunichi Mikawa (naval forces)
Strength
29,000 (November 12) / 30,000 (November 12)
Casualties
1,492 killed, 1000, wounded / 15,000 KIA, 9,000 died from malaria
The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the most important battles of World War II, although quite small in comparison to others. The assault on the Japanese-occupied island of Guadalcanal by the Allied navies and 16,000 United States troops on 7 August1942, was the first offensive by US land forces in the Pacific Campaign.
Background
Guadalcanal is situated in the middle of the long Solomon Islands chain, north-east of Australia. The location of the Solomons made them a key to Japanese plans for cutting off shipping between the US and Australia. Japan held a major base on the northern end of the chain, at Rabaul, but the Solomons are so long that aircraft from Rabaul could not patrol the entirety of the island chain.
The Imperial Japanese Navy intended to turn the Solomons into a major strategic base, and in 1942 started a program of occupying islands all along the chain and building airbases for land-based patrol bombers. Guadalcanal was to be the major base in the middle of the chain, just within ferry range of Rabaul. If this had succeeded, Allied shipping would have been forced to take long detours to the south.
The Allies, aware of the Japanese plans, decided that Guadalcanal would serve just as well as a base for operations against Rabaul, so the US, Australian and New Zealand navies formed an invasion fleet.
All Along the Watchtower
On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division performed an amphibious landing east of the Tenaru River. Initially, only unarmed Japanese construction and support personnel occupied Guadalcanal itself, allowing the Americans to come ashore almost unhindered. A nearby muddy airstrip was captured and renamed to Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson who had been killed at the Battle of Midway.
On 8th August, Admiral Fletcher informed General Vandegrift that his aircraft carriers would be leaving the area, thus Rear Admiral Turner departed with his transports, taking over half the Marines' supplies and all their heavy artillery. This was before the battle of Savo Island.Because of the invasion, Japanese reinforcements were dispatched to the island from Rabaul to destroy the Americans and take back the airstrip (Operation Ka-Go). The Japanese build-up would be under the command of the Japanese 17th Army, led by Lieutenant-General Hyakutake Haruyoshi.
Operations on Guadalcanal, August-November 1942
The first significant battle occurred at the Tenaru River on August 20 when a battalion-sized force of Japanese named the Ichiki Detachment attacked the Marines across the river sand bars. The attackers were killed almost to the last man. The destruction was so stunning that the Japanese commander, Kiyonao Ichiki, committed seppuku shortly afterwards.
The following month, 6,000 Japanese troops mounted a night assault against 11,000 Marines from the south with the goal of taking back the airfield. The "Battle of Edson's Ridge" (called "Bloody Ridge" by some) began on September 11 and continued until the 14th before the attack was finally beaten back by the Marines.
On September 23 the Marines began a drive to establish defensive positions along the Mantanikau River. A land attack was combined with a small amphibious landing on the flank, but the operation was repulsed by the Japanese.
A lull in the fighting occurred as the Japanese prepared for a new attack. The Japanese navy shelled the airfield on October 13 and 14th in an attempt to suppress the aircraft operating from the base. The airfield suffered heavy damage, but was returned to service. Finally on October 23, with the addition of more troops, the Japanese made another attempt to capture Henderson Field from the south of the salient. The newly arrived US Army's 164th Infantry Regiment and 1st Battalion 7th Marines defended this position, and after a determined battle the attack was finally repulsed after committing the U.S. reserves.
On October 25 Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige and 33 marine riflemen emplaced 4 water-cooled 30-caliber Brownings on a ridge to defend Henderson Field. By the time the night was over the Japanese 29th Infantry Regiment had lost 553 killed or missing and 479 wounded among its 2,554 men. The Japanese 16th Regiment's losses were not accounted for but the 164th's burial parties handled 975 Japanese bodies. Total American estimates for Japanese casualties on that ridge were 2,200. All the men in Mitchell Paige's platoon were either killed or wounded during the night of fierce fighting. Mitchell Paige moved up and down the line placing dead and wounded troops back into foxholes and firing short bursts from each of the four Brownings to deceive the Japanese that a force still held the ridge. Paige was subsequently cited for a Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that night. He was also honored in 1998 by the Hasbro Toy Co. when it produced a Mitchell Paige version of its G.I. Joeaction figure.
At dawn of the next day, battalion executive officer Major Odell M. Conoley reinforced Paige on the hill. It was decided that they would charge the remnants of the two Japanese regiments who were now regrouping. Conoley gathered his resources who consisted "three enlisted communication personnel, several riflemen, a few company runners who were at the point, together with a cook and a few messmen who had brought food to the position the evening before." In total 17 marines charged the Japanese at 5:40 a.m. on the morning of the 26th, signaling the turn in the Pacific theatre of the second world war.
In November the Japanese sent reinforcements in the form of the 38th Infantry Division. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, however, the transports carrying this reinforcement were badly damaged and the division was reduced to the strength of a regiment. Through November, American forces continued its offensive in an attempt to push the perimeter out beyond artillery range of the airfield. The Mantanikau River area was finally cleared after overcoming strong Japanese resistance.
By December the weary 1st Marine Division was withdrawn for recuperation, and over the course of the next month the U.S. XIV Corps took over operations on the island. This Corps consisted of the 2nd Marine Division, the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division, and the Americal Division.
Japanese strength on the island waned due to attrition and shortages of supplies brought on by the build-up of Allied ships and aircraft. The U.S. XIV Corps began offensive operations on January 10, 1943, and by February 8 they had forced the remaining Japanese to be evacuated from Cape Esperance. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on 9 February, 1943, after more than six months of combat.
The lack of supply on both sides meant that combat was especially intense and characterized by extreme desperation. The Japanese used fear as a tactic by placing the severed heads of dead Americans on pikes and planting them around the Marine perimeter. Additionally, neither side took many prisoners. Disease also played a significant role in the ground campaign, as both the Japanese and American forces were weakened by malaria in the insect-infested jungles. Both sides had difficulty maintaining their supplies to the island, the Japanese particularly, to the extent that island became also known as 'Starvation Island' to them.
Due to the significant number of vessels sunk in the approaches to Guadalcanal island, the stretch of water between Guadalcanal and Florida Island to the north became known as Ironbottom Sound. These naval battles did not produce a tactical victory for either side, but the battle was strategically critical in that the Japanese were unable to quickly replace their lost ships.
Aftermath & Historical Significance
Although the Battle of Midway is widely considered to be the turning point in the Pacific theater, it was a strategic naval victory rather than a land-based one. Australian land forces defeated Japanese marines at the Battle of Milne Bay, rather than the Imperial Japanese Army. When US soldiers finally captured Guadalcanal, it was the first step in a long string of invasions that would eventually lead to invasions of Japanese islands and the surrender of Japan. The capture of the island was the first breach of the perimeter that Japan had established during the first six months of the Pacific War. Because of this, Guadalcanal is considered the turning point for the Imperial Japanese Army.