171-504: Army: 19,200 dead, of whom 8,500 were killed in combat The Guadalcanal campaign , also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II . It was the first major land offensive by Allied forces against
342-564: A Japanese naval base in the Shortland Islands. The Japanese destroyers were usually able to make round trips down "The Slot" ( New Georgia Sound ) to Guadalcanal and back in a single night throughout the campaign, which minimized their exposure to daytime Allied air attack. These runs became known as the "Tokyo Express" to Allied forces, and were labeled "rat transportation" by the Japanese. While troops could be transported in this manner, most of
513-597: A Malaitan enclave and the Malaita Eagle Force took over government. The Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy deployed vessels to the area to protect the expatriate community resident mostly in Honiara. In 2003, the Pacific Forum negotiated the intervention of RAMSI or Operation Helpem Fren involving Australia, New Zealand, and other Pacific island nations. About 25 km (15 mi) from Honiara to
684-511: A Marine aviator who was killed during the Battle of Midway. By 18 August the airfield was ready for operation. Five days' worth of food had been landed from the transports, which, along with captured Japanese provisions, gave the Marines a total of 14 days' supply of food. To conserve supplies, the troops were limited to two meals per day. Allied troops encountered a severe strain of dysentery soon after
855-609: A base, Japanese long-range bombers could threaten the sea lines of communication and maritime trade & transportation routes from the west coast of the Americas to the populous east coast of Australia. By August, the Japanese had about 900 naval troops on Tulagi and nearby islands, and 2,800 personnel (including 2,200 Korean forced laborers and trustees, as well as Japanese construction specialists) on Guadalcanal. These bases were meant to protect Japan's major naval base at Rabaul , threaten Allied supply and communication lines, and establish
1026-459: A beach at Point Cruz; he was killed during the evacuation. During the Battle for Henderson Field , the Medal of Honor was also awarded to John Basilone , who was later killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. After the war, American and Japanese groups repeatedly visited Guadalcanal to search for the remains of missing soldiers. The bodies of some 7,000 Japanese troops remain missing on
1197-904: A common Anglo-American vision of the postwar world, as formalized by the Atlantic Charter . At the Second Inter-Allied Meeting in London in September 1941, the eight European governments in exile, together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth in the Atlantic Charter. In December, Japan attacked American and British territories in Asia and
1368-518: A defensive ring around their conquests and threaten the lines of communication from the United States to Australia and New Zealand. The Japanese reached Guadalcanal in May 1942. When an American reconnaissance mission spotted construction of a Japanese airfield at Lunga Point on the north coast of Guadalcanal, the situation became critical. This new Japanese airfield represented a threat to Australia, so as
1539-608: A domination of the world completely different from any known in world history. The domination at which the Nazis aim is not limited to the displacement of the balance of power and the imposition of the supremacy of one nation. It seeks the systematic and total destruction of those conquered by Hitler and it does not treaty with the nations which it has subdued. He destroys them. He takes from them their whole political and economic existence and seeks even to deprive them of their history and culture. He wishes only to consider them as vital space and
1710-521: A failed attack on Port Moresby over the Kokoda track . The second major Japanese offensive was stopped at the Battle of Midway . Both sides suffered significant losses in carrier aircraft and aircrew during these engagements. Crucially, while the Americans were able to reconstitute their naval air strength in relatively short order, the Japanese ultimately proved unable to do so. These strategic victories allowed
1881-529: A few units available to allocate to Guadalcanal. Of these, the 35th Infantry Brigade under Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi was at Palau , the 4th (Aoba) Infantry Regiment under Major General Yumio Nasu was in the Philippines and the 28th (Ichiki) Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki , was berthed on transport ships near Guam . These units began to move towards Guadalcanal via Truk and Rabaul immediately, but Ichiki's regiment, being
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#17328443711882052-560: A formalized group upon the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, which was signed by 26 nations around the world; these ranged from governments in exile from the Axis occupation to small nations far removed from the war. The Declaration officially recognized the Big Three and China as the "Four Powers", acknowledging their central role in prosecuting the war; they were also referred to as
2223-479: A key role in achieving victory. A series of conferences between Allied leaders, diplomats, and military officials gradually shaped the makeup of the alliance, the direction of the war, and ultimately the postwar international order. Relations between the United Kingdom and the United States were especially close , with their bilateral Atlantic Charter forming the groundwork of their alliance. The Allies became
2394-640: A massive air attack on Germany, but Stalin kept wanting more. Although the U.S. had a strained relationship with the USSR in the 1920s, relations were normalized in 1933. The original terms of the Lend-Lease loan were amended towards the Soviets, to be put in line with British terms. The United States would now expect interest with the repayment from the Soviets, following the initiation of the Operation Barbarossa , at
2565-428: A matter of urgency, despite not being adequately prepared, the United States conducted its first amphibious landing of the war on Guadalcanal. The initial landings of the 1st Marine Division on 7 August 1942 secured the airfield with little difficulty, but holding the airfield for the next six months against combined Japanese ground assault, air attack and naval bombardment was one of the most hotly contested campaigns in
2736-427: A particularly nasty bite. The Guadalcanal Watersheds form a site that has been identified by BirdLife International as an important bird area , because it supports populations of threatened or endemic bird species. At 376,146 ha (1,452 sq mi), it covers some 70% of the island, extending along the southern coast inland to the central highlands, and contains riverine and lowland tropical rainforest , as well as
2907-489: A protectorate over the northern Solomons in 1884, while in 1893, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was proclaimed, which included the island of Guadalcanal. Germany eventually handed over most of their protectorate to Britain, though, in 1899. By the early 20th century, large agricultural plantations (specialising in copra ), run mainly by Australians, were established in the region. Guadalcanal
3078-417: A reconnaissance mission with a secondary objective of contacting a group of Japanese troops that U.S. forces believed might be willing to surrender. Soon after the patrol landed, a nearby platoon of Japanese naval troops attacked it and almost completely wiped it out. In response, on 19 August, Vandegrift sent three companies of the U.S. 5th Marine Regiment to attack the Japanese troop concentration west of
3249-559: A repeat of the disastrous defeat at Savo Island suffered by Australian and American surface vessels on 9 August. Transport Division 12 (Trans Div 12), consisting of six obsolete World War I-era Wickes -class destroyers converted to high-speed transports , were the most heavily armed U.S. surface ships operating in Ironbottom Sound during this time. Their torpedo tubes were retrofitted to hold landing craft boats , enough to carry over 100 extra Marines for rapid transportation. They landed
3420-640: A separate colony. British Malaya covers the areas of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore , while British Borneo covers the area of Brunei , including Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia. British Hong Kong consisted of Hong Kong Island , the Kowloon Peninsula , and the New Territories . Territories controlled by the Colonial Office , namely the Crown Colonies , were controlled politically by
3591-464: A single rehearsal landing prior to leaving for Guadalcanal on 31 July. The commander of the Allied expeditionary force was U.S. Vice Admiral Frank Fletcher , Commander of Task Force 61 (whose flag was on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga ). Commanding the amphibious forces was U.S. Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner . Vandegrift led the 16,000 Allied (primarily U.S. Marine) infantry earmarked for
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#17328443711883762-592: A staging area for a planned offensive against Fiji , New Caledonia and Samoa ( Operation FS ). The Japanese planned to deploy 45 fighters and 60 bombers to Guadalcanal. In the overall strategy for 1942, these aircraft would provide ground-based air cover for Japanese naval forces advancing farther into the South Pacific. The Allied plan to invade the southern Solomons was conceived by U.S. Admiral Ernest King , Commander in Chief, United States Fleet . He proposed
3933-599: A vacant territory over which he has every right. The human beings who constitute these nations are for him only cattle. He orders their massacre or migration. He compels them to make room for their conquerors. He does not even take the trouble to impose any war tribute on them. He just takes all their wealth and, to prevent any revolt, he scientifically seeks the physical and moral degradation of those whose independence he has taken away. France experienced several major phases of action during World War II: In Africa these included: French West Africa , French Equatorial Africa ,
4104-477: Is the island's longest river, with a total length of 98.7 km (61.3 mi). List of peaks in Guadalcanal by elevation List of longest rivers by length The island has been settled since at least 4500–2500 BC based on archaeological finds at Poha Cave and Vatuluma Posovi. During the period 1200-800 BC, Austronesian Lapita peoples settled the islands. A Spanish expedition from Peru in 1568 under
4275-457: The 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment , was landed by boat west of the Matanikau near Kokumbuna village on 27 August with the mission of attacking Japanese units in the area, much as in the first Matanikau action of 19 August. The Marines were impeded by difficult terrain, hot sun, and well-emplaced Japanese defenses. The next morning, the Marines found that the Japanese defenders had departed during
4446-481: The 1st Raider Battalion , under Merritt A. Edson (Edson's Raiders), and the 1st Parachute Battalion from Tulagi and Gavutu to Guadalcanal. These units added about 1,500 troops to Vandegrift's original 11,000 men defending Henderson Field. The 1st Parachute Battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo in August, was placed under Edson's command. The other relocated battalion,
4617-535: The British West Indies , British Honduras , British Guiana and the Falkland Islands . The Dominion of Newfoundland was directly ruled as a royal colony from 1933 to 1949, run by a governor appointed by London who made the decisions regarding Newfoundland. British India included the areas and peoples covered by later India , Bangladesh , Pakistan and (until 1937) Burma/Myanmar , which later became
4788-467: The Cactus Air Force . They defended the airfield and threatened any Japanese ships that ventured too close to the island during daylight hours. At night, however, Japanese naval forces were frequently able to shell the airfield and deliver troops with supplies, retiring before daylight. The Japanese used fast ships, namely destroyers, to conduct this reinforcement and supply effort, which became known as
4959-515: The Empire of Japan . On 7 August 1942, Allied forces, predominantly United States Marines , landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi , and Florida Island in the southern Solomon Islands , with the objective of using Guadalcanal and Tulagi as bases in supporting a campaign to eventually capture or neutralize the major Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain . The Japanese defenders, who had occupied those islands since May 1942, were outnumbered and overwhelmed by
5130-905: The European theater . An early obstacle was the desire of both the U.S. Army and the Roosevelt administration to initiate offensive action in Europe prior to a large-scale operation in the Pacific. In addition, it was initially unclear who would command the campaign: Tulagi lay in the area under the command of General Douglas MacArthur , whereas the Santa Cruz Islands lay in Admiral Chester W. Nimitz 's Pacific Ocean Area , which would also supply almost all Allied offensive forces that would be staged, supplied and covered from that area. Both problems were overcome, and
5301-598: The Lunga River , just south of Henderson Field. The ridge offered a natural avenue of approach to the airfield, commanded the surrounding area, and was almost undefended. On 11 September, the 840 men of Edson's battalion were deployed onto and around the ridge and began digging in. On the night of 12 September, Kawaguchi's 1st Battalion attacked the Raiders between the Lunga River and ridge, forcing one Marine company to fall back to
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5472-572: The Philippines campaign (1944–1945) , and the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign prior to the surrender of Japan in August, 1945. On 7 December 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . The attack killed almost 2,500 people and crippled much of the U.S. battleship fleet, precipitating formal declarations of war between the two nations
5643-532: The Santa Cruz Islands (codename Huddle ), Tulagi (codename Watchtower ), and "adjacent positions". Guadalcanal (codename Cactus ), which eventually became the focus of the operation, was not even mentioned in the early directive, and only later took on the operation name Watchtower . Tulagi, although small, had a large natural harbor that was ideal for a float-plane base; Florida Island also had to be taken, as it dominated Tulagi. Guadalcanal, much larger than
5814-616: The Tokyo Express . So many ships from both sides were sunk in the many naval engagements in and around the Solomon Island chain that the nearby waters came to be referred to as Ironbottom Sound . The naval Battle of Cape Esperance was fought on 11 October 1942 in the waters off the northwest coast of Guadalcanal. During the engagement, the United States Navy intercepted and defeated a Japanese formation of ships on their way down "
5985-503: The " Cactus Air Force ", after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal, Cactus . The Marine fighters went into action the next day, which also saw the first of what would become almost-daily Japanese bomber air raids on the airfield. On 22 August five U.S. Army Bell P-400 Airacobras and their pilots arrived at Henderson Field. In response to the Allied landings, the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters assigned
6156-559: The " trusteeship of the powerful", and later as the " Four Policemen " of the United Nations. Many more countries joined through to the final days of the war, including colonies and former Axis nations. After the war ended, the Allies, and the Declaration that bound them, would become the basis of the modern United Nations ; one enduring legacy of the alliance is the permanent membership of
6327-595: The "First Battle of the Matanikau", was the first of several major actions around the Matanikau River during the campaign. On 20 August, the escort carrier USS Long Island delivered a squadron of 19 Grumman F4F Wildcats and a squadron of 12 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses to Henderson Field. The airfield's rudimentary nature meant that carrier aircraft, designed for rough landings on flight decks at sea, were more suited for use on Henderson Field than ground-based planes. The aircraft based at Henderson became known as
6498-459: The "Guadalcanal matter" was resolved. Hyakutake prepared to send more troops to Guadalcanal for another attempt to recapture Henderson Field. As the Japanese regrouped west of the Matanikau, the U.S. forces concentrated on shoring up and strengthening their Lunga defenses. On 14 September Vandegrift moved another battalion ( 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment ) from Tulagi to Guadalcanal. On 18 September, an Allied naval convoy delivered 4,157 men from
6669-614: The "Ilu River" on U.S. Marine maps) on the east side of the Lunga perimeter in the early morning hours of 21 August. Jacob Vouza , a Solomon Islands Coastwatcher scout, warned the Americans of the impending attack minutes before Ichiki's assault, which was subsequently defeated with heavy losses to the Japanese. After daybreak, the Marine units counterattacked Ichiki's surviving troops, killing many more of them. The dead included Ichiki, though it has been claimed that he committed seppuku after realizing
6840-631: The 18th and 19th centuries. With these outsiders also arrived foreign institutions such as forced labour. Beginning during the 1860s, about 60,000 natives from many parts of the Solomon Islands were indentured and sent to Australia or Fiji by British authorities to work on plantations. This system continued into the 1890s. In the 1880s, the Germans and the British vied for control of the Solomons. Germany established
7011-496: The 1920s, culminating in the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations strongly condemned the attack as an act of aggression against China; Japan responded by leaving the League in 1933. The second Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japan's full-scale invasion of China. The League of Nations condemned Japan's actions and initiated sanctions; the United States, which had attempted to peacefully negotiate for peace in Asia,
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7182-418: The 3rd Provisional Marine Brigade (the 7th Marine Regiment plus a battalion from the 11th Marine Regiment and some additional support units), 137 vehicles, tents, aviation fuel, ammunition, rations, and engineering equipment to Guadalcanal. These crucial reinforcements allowed Vandegrift, beginning on 19 September, to establish an unbroken line of defense around the Lunga perimeter. While covering this convoy,
7353-498: The Allied expeditionary force to arrive unseen by the Japanese on the night of 6 August and morning of 7 August, taking the defenders by surprise. This is occasionally referred to the "Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal". A Japanese patrol aircraft from Tulagi had searched the general area that the Allied invasion fleet was moving through, but was unable to spot the Allied fleet due to severe storms and heavy clouds. The landing force split into two groups, with one group assaulting Guadalcanal and
7524-463: The Allies to transition to a more offensive stance in the Pacific theater, and attempt to seize the strategic initiative from Japan. The Allies chose the Solomon Islands (a protectorate of the United Kingdom), specifically the southern islands of Guadalcanal , Tulagi and Florida Island , as their first target, designated Task One (codename Pestilence ), with the initial objectives of occupying
7695-495: The Allies varied during the course of the war. When the conflict broke out on 1 September 1939, the Allied coalition consisted of the United Kingdom, France , and Poland , as well as their respective dependencies , such as British India . They were joined by the independent dominions of the British Commonwealth : Canada , Australia , New Zealand and South Africa . Consequently, the initial alliance resembled that of
7866-425: The Allies, who captured Tulagi and Florida, as well as the airfield—later named Henderson Field —that was under construction on Guadalcanal. Surprised by the Allied offensive, the Japanese made several attempts between August and November to retake Henderson Field. Three major land battles, seven large naval battles (five nighttime surface actions and two carrier battles), and almost daily aerial battles culminated in
8037-595: The American Harry Hopkins . It is also often called the "Strange Alliance", because it united the leaders of the world's greatest capitalist state (the United States), the greatest socialist state (the Soviet Union) and the greatest colonial power (the United Kingdom). Relations between them resulted in the major decisions that shaped the war effort and planned for the postwar world. Cooperation between
8208-606: The American carrier Wasp , after refueling, positioned herself east of Guadalcanal, expecting Japanese movement to the area. No Japanese forces made any movement towards the area, however, and the Wasp was left idle. The Americans had won a modest tactical victory with the destruction of the Ryūjō, destroying some 75 Japanese aircraft while losing 25 of their own. The forced withdrawal of Tanaka's troop convoy also bought valuable breathing room for
8379-543: The Battle of Midway in turning the tide against them. After six months of hard combat in and around Guadalcanal, the Japanese forces on the island were critically undersupplied and no longer combat effective, while Allied troops were steadily increasing in quantity and quality. Remaining Japanese forces on the island were evacuated at Cape Esperance on the northwest coast in February 1943. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on 9 February 1943. The Guadalcanal campaign
8550-458: The Big Three leaders, although they were not enough to break the alliance during wartime. In 1942 Roosevelt proposed becoming, with China, the Four Policemen of world peace. Although the 'Four Powers' were reflected in the wording of the Declaration by United Nations , Roosevelt's proposal was not initially supported by Churchill or Stalin. Division emerged over the length of time taken by
8721-662: The British Government during the Second World War and made part of the British Army structure. It was mostly Greek Cypriot volunteers and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Cyprus but also included other Commonwealth nationalities. On a brief visit to Cyprus in 1943, Winston Churchill praised the "soldiers of the Cyprus Regiment who have served honourably on many fields from Libya to Dunkirk". About 30,000 Cypriots served in
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#17328443711888892-453: The Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, General George C. Marshall , gave the operation his full support, despite MacArthur's command being unable to directly assist in the operation and the U.S. Navy taking full operational responsibility. As a result, and in order to preserve the unity of command, the boundary between MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Area was shifted 60 miles (97 km) to 360 miles (580 km) to
9063-637: The Cyprus Regiment. The regiment was involved in action from the very start and served at Dunkirk , in the Greek Campaign (about 600 soldiers were captured in Kalamata in 1941), North Africa ( Operation Compass ), France, the Middle East and Italy. Many soldiers were taken prisoner especially at the beginning of the war and were interned in various PoW camps ( Stalag ) including Lamsdorf ( Stalag VIII-B ), Stalag IVC at Wistritz bei Teplitz and Stalag 4b near Most in
9234-529: The Czech Republic. The soldiers captured in Kalamata were transported by train to prisoner of war camps. After Germany invaded Poland, France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. In January 1940, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier made a major speech denouncing the actions of Germany: At the end of five months of war, one thing has become more and more clear. It is that Germany seeks to establish
9405-406: The Declaration was signed by Iraq, Iran, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. A Tripartite Treaty of Alliance with Britain and the USSR formalised Iran's assistance to the Allies. In Rio de Janeiro , Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas was considered near to fascist ideas, but realistically joined the United Nations after their evident successes. In 1944, Liberia and France signed. The French situation
9576-538: The Eleventh Air Fleet and the Eighth Fleet. Regardless, Tanaka's persistent destroyer operations gradually increased the strength of the forces available to Kawaguchi on the island. A combination of inability and unwillingness prevented Allied naval commanders from frequently challenging Japanese naval forces at night, so the Japanese effectively controlled the seas around the Solomon Islands after sunset. Conversely,
9747-762: The First World War . As Axis forces began invading northern Europe and the Balkans , the Allies added the Netherlands , Belgium , Norway , Greece , and Yugoslavia . The Soviet Union, which initially had a nonaggression pact with Germany and participated in its invasion of Poland , joined the Allies after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The United States, while providing some materiel support to European Allies since September 1940, remained formally neutral until
9918-473: The German war machine. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland ; two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Roughly two weeks after Germany's attack, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Britain and France established the Anglo-French Supreme War Council to coordinate military decisions. A Polish government-in-exile was set up in London, joined by hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers, which would remain an Allied nation until
10089-429: The Guadalcanal campaign marked the Allies' transition from defensive operations to offensive ones, and effectively allowed them to seize 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 ,
10260-425: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, after which it declared war and officially joined the Allies. China had already been at war with Japan since 1937 , and formally joined the Allies in December 1941. The Allies were led by the so-called "Big Three"—the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States—which were the principal contributors of manpower, resources, and strategy, each playing
10431-405: The Japanese defenders to retreat into the jungle. In Tasimboko, Edson's troops discovered Kawaguchi's main supply depot, including large stockpiles of food, ammunition, medical supplies, and a powerful shortwave radio. After destroying everything in sight, aside from some documents and equipment that were carried back with them, the Marines returned to the Lunga perimeter. Intelligence gathered from
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#173284437118810602-436: The Lunga perimeter. On 8 August, a Japanese destroyer from Rabaul delivered 113 naval reinforcement troops to the Matanikau position. On the evening of 12 August, a 25-man U.S. Marine patrol, led by Division D-2 Lieutenant Colonel Frank Goettge and primarily consisting of intelligence personnel, landed by boat west of the U.S. Marine Lunga perimeter, east of Point Cruz and west of the Japanese perimeter at Matanikau River, on
10773-457: The Marines ashore understrength (as some transports in the Allied fleet had retreated without disemarking all of their troops), and without much of their heavy equipment and provisions. Mikawa's decision not to attempt to destroy the Allied transport ships when he had the opportunity proved to be a crucial strategic mistake. The 11,000 Marines on Guadalcanal initially concentrated on forming a loose defensive perimeter centered around Lunga Point and
10944-482: The Marines back to within a quarter mile of the airfield. At this stage, as the intensity of the battle reached its apex, small groups of Japanese soldiers managed to break through Edson's lines, with some reaching the edge of the airfield itself. Several Japanese soldiers were killed as they attempted to climb onto and destroy parked aircraft, and General Vandegrift's command post even came under direct attack at dawn, with several Japanese infiltrators killed within sight of
11115-430: The Marines suffering 104. On 15 September at Rabaul, Hyakutake learned of Kawaguchi's defeat and forwarded the news to Imperial General Headquarters in Japan. In an emergency meeting, the senior Japanese IJA and IJN command staffs concluded that "Guadalcanal might develop into the decisive battle of the war". The results of the battle now began to exert significant strategic impact on Japanese operations in other areas of
11286-499: The Matanikau. One company attacked across the sandbar at the mouth of the Matanikau River while another crossed the river 1,000 meters (1,100 yd) inland and attacked the Japanese forces located in Matanikau village. The third landed by boat further west and attacked Kokumbuna village. After briefly occupying the two villages, the three Marine companies returned to the Lunga perimeter, having killed about 65 Japanese soldiers while losing four Marines. This action, sometimes referred to as
11457-402: The Pacific theater of war that two battleships engaged each other in combat, with the next such engagement occurring in 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf . Some Japanese viewpoints consider these naval engagements, which showcased the improving capability of Allied warships to challenge the Imperial Japanese Navy's significant advantage in night-fighting techniques, to be just as significant as
11628-410: The Pacific, resulting in the U.S. formally entering the war as an Allied power. Still reeling from Japanese aggression, China declared war on all the Axis powers shortly thereafter. By the end of 1941, the main lines of World War II had formed. Churchill referred to the "Grand Alliance" of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, which together played the largest role in prosecuting
11799-413: The Pacific. In preparation for the offensive in the Pacific in May 1942, U.S. Marine Major General Alexander Vandegrift was ordered to move his 1st Marine Division from the United States to New Zealand. Other Allied land, naval and air units were sent to establish or reinforce bases in Fiji, Samoa, New Hebrides and New Caledonia. The island of Espiritu Santo , in the New Hebrides, was selected as
11970-416: The Pacific. Hyakutake realized that he could not send sufficient men and materiel to defeat the Allied forces on Guadalcanal while simultaneously supporting the major ongoing Japanese offensive on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea. Hyakutake, with the concurrence of General Headquarters, ordered his troops on New Guinea, who were within 30 miles (50 km) of their objective of Port Moresby, to withdraw until
12141-450: The Santa Cruz islands were (eventually) abandoned. The Japanese were aware, via signals intelligence , of the large-scale movement of Allied forces in the South Pacific Area, but concluded that the Allies were reinforcing either Australia or Port Moresby on the southern coast of New Guinea. The Watchtower force, numbering 75 warships and transports (including vessels from the U.S. and Australia), assembled near Fiji on 26 July and conducted
12312-506: The Slot " to reinforce and resupply troops on the island, suffering losses of their own in the process. The multi-day Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November marked a critical turning point in the campaign. Allied naval forces engaged a large, experienced Japanese surface force at night and forced it to withdraw, sinking the IJN battleship Kirishima in the process. This was one of only two times in
12483-448: The Soviet Union, were accepted as members of the United Nations as a way to provide greater influence to Stalin, who had only Yugoslavia as a communist partner in the alliance. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain delivered his Ultimatum Speech on 3 September 1939 which declared war on Germany , a few hours before France. As the Statute of Westminster 1931 was not yet ratified by
12654-512: The Tenaru battle was ending, more Japanese reinforcements were already on their way to Guadalcanal. Yamamoto had organized an extremely powerful naval expeditionary force, with goal of destroying any American fleet units in the Solomons, and subsequently eliminating Allied ground forces at Henderson Field. This force sortied from Truk on 23 August. Several other IJN units carrying reinforcements and supplies, as well as ships tasked with naval bombardment of
12825-624: The Treaty of Versailles and made claims over German-populated Austria and the German-populated territories of Czechoslovakia. The likelihood of war was high, but none of the major powers had the appetite for another conflict; many governments sought to ease tensions through nonmilitary strategies such as appeasement . Japan, which was a principal allied power in the First World War, had since become increasingly militaristic and imperialistic; parallel to Germany, nationalist sentiment increased throughout
12996-606: The U.N. Security Council , which is made up exclusively of the principal Allied powers that won the war. The victorious Allies of World War I —which included what would become the Allied powers of the Second World War—had imposed harsh terms on the opposing Central Powers in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 . Germany resented signing the Treaty of Versailles , which required that it take full responsibility for
13167-441: The U.S. aircraft carriers, and immediately retired to Rabaul without attempting to attack the (now defensless) Allied transports, fearing daytime air attacks on his vessels once the cover of darkness had been lost. Bereft of his carrier air cover and concerned about Japanese submarine & surface attacks against his degraded fleet, Turner decided to withdraw his badly mauled naval forces from the area on evening of 9 August. This left
13338-429: The U.S. aircrews shot down were rescued, while most of the Japanese aircrews were not recovered. The eight-hour round-trip flight from Rabaul to Guadalcanal, about 1,120 miles (1,800 km), seriously hampered Japanese efforts to establish air superiority over Henderson Field. Throughout the campaign, Rabaul-based Japanese aircrew were forced to fly almost 600 miles before engaging in combat with Allied pilots operating in
13509-422: The U.S. fighters time to take off and position themselves to attack the Japanese aircraft as they approached the island. The Japanese air forces were slowly losing a war of attrition in the skies above Guadalcanal. During this time, Vandegrift continued to direct efforts to strengthen and improve the defenses of the Lunga perimeter. Between 21 August and 3 September, he relocated three Marine battalions, including
13680-422: The U.S. lost 19 (including 14 carrier aircraft), both in combat and to accidents. After these aerial clashes, Fletcher became concerned about the unexpectedly high losses to his carrier fighter aircraft strength, anxious about the threat to his carriers from further Japanese air attacks, and worried about his ships' remaining fuel supply. Fletcher withdrew from the Solomon Islands area with his carrier task force on
13851-574: The UK and therefore also entered hostilities with Britain's declaration of war. At the outbreak of World War II, the British Indian Army numbered 205,000 men. Later during World War II, the British Indian Army became the largest all-volunteer force in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in size. Indian soldiers earned 30 Victoria Crosses during the Second World War. It suffered 87,000 military casualties (more than any Crown colony but fewer than
14022-597: The United Kingdom and the United States had cooperated in a number of ways, notably through the destroyers-for-bases deal in September 1940 and the American Lend-Lease program, which provided Britain and the Soviet Union with war materiel beginning in October 1941. The British Commonwealth and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union reciprocated with a smaller Reverse Lend-Lease program. The First Inter-Allied Meeting took place in London in early June 1941 between
14193-453: The United Kingdom and the United States was especially close and included forming a Combined Chiefs of Staff . There were numerous high-level conferences ; in total Churchill attended 14 meetings, Roosevelt 12, and Stalin 5. Most visible were the three summit conferences that brought together the three top leaders. The Allied policy toward Germany and Japan evolved and developed at these three conferences. There were many tensions among
14364-515: The United Kingdom). The UK suffered 382,000 military casualties. Kuwait was a protectorate of the United Kingdom formally established in 1899. The Trucial States were British protectorates in the Persian Gulf. Palestine was a mandate dependency created in the peace agreements after World War I from the former territory of the Ottoman Empire , Iraq . The Cyprus Regiment was formed by
14535-474: The United Kingdom, the four co-belligerent British Dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), the eight governments in exile ( Belgium , Czechoslovakia , Greece , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Yugoslavia ) and Free France . The meeting culminated with the Declaration of St James's Palace , which set out a first vision for the postwar world. In June 1941, Hitler broke
14706-753: The Western Allies to establish a second front in Europe. Stalin and the Soviets used the potential employment of the second front as an 'acid test' for their relations with the Anglo-American powers. The Soviets were forced to use as much manpower as possible in the fight against the Germans, whereas the United States had the luxury of flexing industrial power, but with the "minimum possible expenditure of American lives". Roosevelt and Churchill opened ground fronts in North Africa in 1942 and in Italy in 1943, and launched
14877-458: The aircraft carrier USS Wasp was scuttled after being struck by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-19 southeast of Guadalcanal. This stretched Allied naval airpower thin, with only one aircraft carrier ( USS Hornet ) remaining in operation in the entire South Pacific Area. Vandegrift also made some changes in the senior leadership of his combat units, transferring several officers who did not meet his performance standards off
15048-444: The airfield and surrounding area. During the landing operations on 7 and 8 August, Rabaul-based Japanese naval aircraft under the command of Yamada Sadayoshi attacked the Allied amphibious forces several times, setting fire the transport USS George F. Elliott (which sank two days later) and heavily damaging the destroyer USS Jarvis . Over the course of two days of air attacks, Japanese air units lost 36 aircraft, while
15219-536: The airfield by 16:00 on 8 August. The Japanese naval construction units and combat troops, under the command of Captain Kanae Monzen, had panicked after coming under naval bombardment and aerial bombing, and had abandoned the airfield and fled about 3 miles (5 km) west to the Matanikau River and Point Cruz area. Japanese troops left behind food, supplies, intact construction equipment and vehicles, and 13 dead at
15390-428: The airfield, moving what supplies had been brought ashore within the perimeter, and completing the construction of the airfield. Over four days of intense effort, the supplies were moved from the landing beaches to dispersed dumps within the defensive perimeter. Work began on the airfield immediately, mainly using captured Japanese equipment. On 12 August the airfield was named Henderson Field after Lofton R. Henderson ,
15561-441: The amphibious landings. The troops sent to Guadalcanal were fresh from military training, armed with legacy bolt-action M1903 Springfield rifles and a meager 10-day supply of ammunition. Because of the need to get the troops into battle quickly, the Allied planners had reduced their supplies from 90 days to only 60. The men of the 1st Marine Division began referring to the coming battle as "Operation Shoestring". Bad weather allowed
15732-413: The area, positioned themselves to attack Henderson Field. These ships were spotted by two American destroyer-transports, who believed at first that they were a submarine. A U.S. patrol plane also misidentified the destroyers as an enemy submarine and dropped flares over the area, accidentally silhouetting Little and Gregory in the nighttime conditions. The Japanese destroyers immediately fired on and sunk
15903-484: The area. The Japanese lost the Ryūjō , along with dozens of carrier aircraft and most of their aircrew; meanwhile, the Americans lost a handful of planes and Enterprise was damaged, requiring two months to repair in Hawaii. Unable to safely land on Enterprise's ruined flight deck, much of her remaining aircraft instead flew to Guadalcanal and reinforced the beleaguered American air units at Henderson Field. Concurrently to
16074-479: The attention of American pilots. The aircraft from the two fleet carriers would then attack the American fleet while it lacked air cover. Simultaneously, the U.S. carrier task force under Fletcher approached Guadalcanal to counter the Japanese offensive efforts. On 24 August, the two carrier forces located and launched strikes against the other. The Japanese had two fleet carriers, the Shōkaku and Zuikaku , as well as
16245-657: The brigade's supply base at Taivu. Meanwhile, native scouts under the direction of Martin Clemens , a coastwatcher officer in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force and the British district officer for Guadalcanal, brought reports to the U.S. Marines of Japanese troops at Taivu near the village of Tasimboko. Edson subsequently planned a raid on the Japanese troop concentration at Taivu. On 8 September, after being dropped off near Taivu by boat, Edson's men captured Tasimboko and forced
16416-524: The capital of the independent nation of Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal is the largest island in Solomon Islands , with a total land area of 5,302 km (2,047 sq mi), and has a population of 155,605 people, making it the second-most populous island in the country after Malaita. Mount Popomanaseu is the island's highest point and the highest in Solomon Islands, with an elevation of 7,661 ft (2,335 m) above sea level. The Mbokokimbo River
16587-412: The captured documents indicated that at least 3,000 Japanese troops were on the island, planning to initiate a large-scale ground assault on the airfield in short order. Edson, along with Colonel Gerald C. Thomas , Vandegrift's operations officer, correctly anticipated that the main Japanese attack would fall upon Lunga Ridge, a narrow, grassy, 1,000-yard-long (900 m) coral ridge that ran parallel to
16758-525: The carrier air battle, on 25 August, Tanaka's convoy (headed by the flagship Jintsū ) was attacked near Taivu Point by Cactus Air Force aircraft based at Henderson Field. After suffering heavy damage during the battle, including the sinking of one of the transports, the convoy was forced to divert to the Shortland Islands in the northern Solomons in order to transfer the surviving troops to destroyers for later delivery to Guadalcanal. A Japanese transport
16929-464: The closest, arrived in the area first. A "First Element" of Ichiki's unit, consisting of about 917 soldiers, was landed by IJN destroyers at Taivu Point, east of the Lunga perimeter, after midnight on 19 August, then conducted a 9-mile (14 km) night march west toward the Marine perimeter. Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, Ichiki's unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek (often called
17100-597: The command of Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira were the first Europeans to see the island. Mendaña's subordinate, Pedro de Ortega Valencia, named the island after his home town Guadalcanal in Andalusia, Spain. In the years that followed the discovery, the island was variously referred to as Guadarcana, Guarcana, Guadalcana, and Guadalcanar, which reflected different pronunciations of its name in Andalusian Spanish. European settlers, whalers, and missionaries began to arrive in
17271-473: The command of Colonel Akinosuke Oka , to Kamimbo, west of the Lunga perimeter. On 7 September, Kawaguchi issued his attack plan to "rout and annihilate the enemy in the vicinity of the Guadalcanal Island airfield". Kawaguchi's plan called for the forces under his command, split into three divisions, to approach the Lunga perimeter inland, culminating with a surprise night attack. Oka's forces would attack
17442-423: The commander of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing , U.S. Marine Brigadier General Roy Geiger , arrived with his staff and took command of all air operations at Henderson Field. Air battles between the Allied aircraft at Henderson and Japanese bombers and fighters from Rabaul continued almost daily. Between 26 August and 5 September, the U.S. lost about 15 aircraft to the Japanese's approximately 19. More than half of
17613-430: The course of the previous days, both by Allied submarines and aerial reconnaissance, but a combination of misidentification of ships and the Allied leadership's dismissal of Japanese night fighting capability contributed to an air of complacence and ignorance among the Allied surface fleet that proved disastrous. Japanese submarine activity and air attack continued to be the main source of concern to Turner and his staff, not
17784-563: The day, persisted for the next several months of the campaign. Between 29 August and 4 September, Japanese light cruisers, destroyers, and patrol boats were able to land almost 5,000 troops at Taivu Point, including most of the 35th Infantry Brigade, much of the Aoba (4th) Regiment, and the rest of Ichiki's regiment. General Kawaguchi, who landed at Taivu Point on 31 August, was placed in command of all Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. A barge convoy took another 1,000 soldiers of Kawaguchi's brigade, under
17955-425: The decisive Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in early November, with the defeat of the last Japanese attempt to bombard Henderson Field from the sea and to land enough troops on the island to retake it. In December, the Japanese abandoned their efforts to retake Guadalcanal and evacuated their remaining forces by 7 February 1943, in the face of an offensive by the U.S. Army 's XIV Corps . The Battle of Rennell Island ,
18126-554: The declaration; the Big Four were listed first: The United Nations began growing immediately after its formation. In 1942, Mexico, the Philippines and Ethiopia adhered to the declaration. Ethiopia had been restored to independence by British forces after the Italian defeat in 1941. The Philippines, still owned by Washington but granted international diplomatic recognition, was allowed to join on 10 June despite its occupation by Japan. In 1943,
18297-492: The embattled Allied troops on Guadalcanal. While the Enterprise was taken out of action for repair for several months, she would return to sea later in the campaign. Regardless, the temporary loss of the Enterprise was offset by the timely arrival of the carrier Hornet . Additionally, the reinforcement of Henderson Field by Enterprise ' s orphaned carrier aircraft served bolstered flagging ground-based Allied air strength in
18468-739: The end of the war—the United States were not looking to support any "postwar Soviet reconstruction efforts", which eventually manifested into the Molotov Plan . At the Tehran conference , Stalin judged Roosevelt to be a "lightweight compared to the more formidable Churchill". During the meetings from 1943 to 1945, there were disputes over the growing list of demands from the USSR. Tensions increased further when Roosevelt died and his successor Harry Truman rejected demands put forth by Stalin. Roosevelt wanted to play down these ideological tensions. Roosevelt felt he "understood Stalin's psychology", stating "Stalin
18639-594: The end. After a quiet winter, Germany began its invasion of Western Europe in April 1940, quickly defeating Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. All the occupied nations subsequently established a government-in-exile in London, with each contributing a contingent of escaped troops. Nevertheless, by roughly one year since Germany's violation of the Munich Agreement, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini. Before they were formally allied,
18810-402: The entire Pacific theater of war. Immediately after landing on the island, U.S. Navy Seabees began finishing the airfield begun by the Japanese. It was then named Henderson Field after a Marine aviator killed in combat during the Battle of Midway . Aircraft operating from Henderson Field during the campaign were a mix of U.S. Marine, Army, Navy, and other Allied aircraft that became known as
18981-410: The evening of 8 August. As a result of the loss of carrier-based air cover, Turner decided to withdraw his ships from Guadalcanal, even though less than half of the supplies and heavy equipment needed by the troops ashore had been unloaded. Turner planned to unload as many supplies as possible on Guadalcanal and Tulagi throughout the night of 8 August, and then depart with his ships early on 9 August. As
19152-403: The eventual goal was the American reconquest of the Philippines, from which American forces had been evicted in early 1942. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff created the South Pacific theater, with Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley taking command on 19 June, to direct the offensive in the Solomons. Nimitz, based at Pearl Harbor, was designated as overall Allied commander-in-chief for Allied forces in
19323-411: The first Marines onto Tulagi and later on Guadalcanal, conducted special operations missions with Marine Raiders , participated in anti-submarine warfare, and provided covering fire for the Marines on Guadalcanal. They also directly delivered crucial supplies to the Marines that helped to construct Henderson Field and to maintain the aircraft stationed there. On 30 August USS Colhoun (APD-2)
19494-565: The general. Nonetheless, Kawaguchi's units were spent, and the main Japanese attack on Edson's positions ground to a halt. The supporting attacks by the Kuma Battalion and Oka's unit at other locations on the Lunga perimeter were likewise defeated. On 14 September, Kawaguchi led the survivors of his shattered brigade on a five-day march west to the Matanikau Valley to join with Oka's unit. In total Kawaguchi's forces lost about 850 killed, with
19665-448: The greatest contiguous area of cloud forest in the Solomons. Although it also contains gardens and old village sites, most of it has never been permanently inhabited. Significant birds for which the site was identified include chestnut-bellied imperial pigeons , Woodford's rails , Guadalcanal moustached kingfishers , Meek's lorikeets , Guadalcanal honeyeaters , Guadalcanal thicketbirds , and Guadalcanal thrushes . Potential threats to
19836-499: The growing Allied airpower at Henderson Field (which was further reinforced on September 11-12 by 24 Wildcats that had been made homeless by the torpedoing of the carrier Saratoga in early September by IJN submarine I-26 ) meant that any Japanese vessel within range (200 miles or 320 kilometres) of Guadalcanal in daylight was at great risk from air attack. This tactical situation, wherein Japanese naval forces operated freely at night and Allied aircraft enjoyed local air superiority during
20007-406: The headquarters and primary staging ground for the offensive, codenamed Operation Watchtower , with the commencement date set for 7 August. At first, only the seizure of Tulagi and the Santa Cruz Islands was planned, omitting a landing on Guadalcanal. After Allied reconnaissance discovered Japanese airfield construction efforts on Guadalcanal, its capture was added to the plan, and planned landings on
20178-581: The heavy equipment and supplies, such as heavy artillery, vehicles, food and ammunition, could not. In addition, this activity tied up destroyers that the IJN desperately needed to escort convoys elsewhere in the Pacific. The Byzantine nature of the Japanese navy's command setup in the region exacerbated these logistical problems; Tanaka was receiving contradictory orders from both the Combined Fleet headquarters as well as two rival subordinate naval commands at Rabaul,
20349-613: The immediate area of Henderson Field. This, combined with the fact that the Japanese navy did not systematically rotate their veteran pilots out of combat zones, steadily exhausted & depleted Japanese airpower in the region. From a strategic standpoint, the overall quality of Japanese aviation in the Solomons deteriorated as worn-out veteran pilots were replaced by inexperienced aircrew with minimal combat experience. Australian coastwatchers on Bougainville and New Georgia islands were often able to provide Allied forces on Guadalcanal with advance notice of inbound Japanese air strikes, allowing
20520-463: The island and promoting junior officers who had proven themselves to take their place. One of these was the recently promoted Colonel Merritt Edson, who was placed in command of the 5th Marine Regiment. Guadalcanal Guadalcanal ( / ˌ ɡ w ɑː d əl k ə ˈ n æ l / ; indigenous name: Isatabu ) is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands , located in
20691-485: The island's shores. In recent times, these crocodiles have been found only on the Weather Coast in the south of the island, but during World War II, they were found along the north coast in the vicinity of the airstrip where the fighting was taking place, as evidenced by names such as Alligator Creek . Venomous snakes are rare on the island and are not considered to be a serious threat, but a kind of centipede there has
20862-604: The island, and islanders still bring the Japanese groups bones that they say are those of unearthed Japanese soldiers. Immediately after the Second World War, the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate was moved to Honiara on Guadalcanal from its previous location at Tulagi in the Florida Islands . In 1952, the high commissioner for the Western Pacific moved from Fiji to Honiara, and
21033-427: The island, sortied from both Truk and Rabaul. Three slow transport ships departed from Truk on 16 August, carrying the remaining 1,400 soldiers from Ichiki's (28th) Infantry Regiment plus 500 naval marines from the 5th Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force . The transports were guarded by 13 warships commanded by Japanese Rear Admiral Raizō Tanaka , who planned to land the troops on Guadalcanal on 24 August. To cover
21204-430: The landing of these troops and provide support for the operation to retake Henderson Field from Allied forces, Yamamoto directed Chūichi Nagumo to sortie with a carrier force from Truk on 21 August and sail toward the southern Solomon Islands. Nagumo's force included three carriers and 30 other warships. Yamamoto would send the light carrier Ryūjō to act as bait, ahead of the rest of the Japanese fleet, in order to draw
21375-461: The landings, with one in five Marines afflicted by mid-August. Although some of the Korean construction workers surrendered to the Marines, most of the remaining Japanese and Korean personnel gathered just west of the Lunga perimeter on the west bank of the Matanikau River and subsisted mainly on coconuts. A Japanese naval outpost was also located at Taivu Point, about 35 kilometers (22 mi) east of
21546-478: The last major naval engagement of the campaign, served to secure sufficient protection for much of the remaining Japanese force, by now significantly degraded by disease, starvation and combat casualties, to evacuate safely. 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 ,
21717-601: The light carrier Ryūjō , with a total of 177 carrier-based aircraft. The American forces had two carriers, the Saratoga and Enterprise , and their 176 aircraft. The Japanese light carrier Ryūjō , offered as bait to Allied naval aircraft, was hit by several 1,000-pound (450 kg) bombs and an aerial torpedo; she was abandoned by her crew and sank that night. The two Japanese fleet carriers were not attacked, but Japanese aircraft successfully attacked Enterprise , badly damaging her flight deck. Both fleets subsequently retreated from
21888-447: The local Guale people on Guadalcanal and more recent migrants from the neighbouring island of Malaita erupted into violence. The Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army, later called Isatabu Freedom Movement , began terrorising Malaitans in the rural areas of the island in an effort to force them out of their homes. About 20,000 Malaitans fled to the capital, and others returned to their home island; Guale residents of Honiara fled. The city became
22059-457: The magnitude of his defeat, rather than dying in combat. In total, 789 of the original 917 members of the Ichiki Regiment's First Element were killed in the battle. About 30 survived the battle and joined Ichiki's rear guard of about 100, and these 128 Japanese returned to Taivu Point, notified 17th Army headquarters of their defeat and awaited further reinforcements and orders from Rabaul. As
22230-535: The main advocates of appeasement, decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert an imminent German attack on Poland; the French likewise had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921 . The Soviet Union , which had been diplomatically and economically isolated by much of
22401-623: The naval and seaplane bases on the three islands fiercely resisted the Marine landings. With some difficulty, the Marines secured all three islands: Tulagi on 8 August, and Gavutu and Tanambogo by 9 August. The Japanese defenders were killed almost to the last man, and the Marines suffered 248 casualties. In contrast to Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo, the landings on Guadalcanal encountered much less resistance. At 09:10 on 7 August, Vandegrift and 11,000 U.S. Marines came ashore on Guadalcanal between Koli Point and Lunga Point. Advancing towards Lunga Point, they encountered scant Japanese resistance and secured
22572-545: The next day. The initial goals of the Japanese leadership were to neutralize the U.S. Navy , seize territories rich in natural resources, and establish strategic military bases with which to defend Japan's empire in the Pacific Ocean and Asia. Initially, Japanese forces captured the Philippines, Thailand, Malaya , Singapore, Burma, the Dutch East Indies , Wake Island , Gilbert Islands , New Britain and Guam . The U.S.
22743-689: The night, so the Marines returned to the Lunga perimeter by boat. These actions resulted in the loss of 20 Japanese and 3 Marines. Small Allied naval convoys arrived at Guadalcanal on 23 and 29 August, and 1 and 8 September to provide the Marines at Lunga with more food, ammunition, aircraft fuel, aircraft technicians, and other supplies. The convoy on 1 September also brought 392 Seabees to maintain and improve Henderson Field. In addition, on 3 September, Marine Aircraft Group 25 began airlifting high-priority cargo, including personnel, aviation gasoline, munitions, and other supplies, to Henderson Field. By 23 August, Kawaguchi's 35th Infantry Brigade reached Truk and
22914-585: The non-aggression agreement with Stalin and Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union , which consequently declared war on Germany and its allies. Britain agreed to an alliance with the Soviet Union in July, with both nations committing to assisting one another by any means, and to never negotiate a separate peace. The following August saw the Atlantic Conference between American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , which defined
23085-590: The offensive in order to deny the use of the islands to the Japanese as bases from which the supply routes between the United States and Australia could be threatened, and to use them as starting points for further Allied offensives in the South Pacific. With U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's tacit consent, King also advocated for an invasion of Guadalcanal. Due to the Roosevelt administration's support for Great Britain's proposal that priority be given to defeating Germany before Japan , Allied commanders in Pacific theater had to compete for personnel and resources with
23256-434: The other Tulagi, Florida, and other nearby islands. Allied warships bombarded the invasion beaches, while U.S. carrier aircraft bombed Japanese positions on the target islands and destroyed 15 Japanese seaplanes at their base near Tulagi. Tulagi and two nearby small islands, Gavutu and Tanambogo , were assaulted by 3,000 U.S. Marines under the command of Brigadier General William Rupertus . The 886 IJN personnel manning
23427-426: The other two islands and located to the south across the soon-to-be-named Ironbottom Sound , was added when it was discovered the Japanese were constructing an airbase there. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had occupied Tulagi in May 1942 and had constructed a seaplane base nearby. Allied concern grew when, in early July, the IJN began constructing a large airfield at Lunga Point on nearby Guadalcanal. From such
23598-412: The overmatched American ships. 65 men from Little were killed and 24 men from Gregory were killed, including the commanding officer of Transport Division 12 and the commanding officers of both ships. Throughout August, small numbers of American aircraft and their crews continued to arrive at Guadalcanal. By the end of August, 64 planes of various types were stationed at Henderson Field. On 3 September,
23769-432: The parliaments of Australia and New Zealand, the British declaration of war on Germany also applied to those dominions . The other dominions and members of the British Commonwealth declared war from 3 September 1939, all within one week of each other; they were Canada , British India and South Africa . During the war, Churchill attended seventeen Allied conferences at which key decisions and agreements were made. He
23940-438: The perimeter from the west, while Ichiki's Second Echelon, renamed the Kuma Battalion, would attack from the east. The main attack would be conducted from the jungle south of the Lunga perimeter by Kawaguchi's "Center Body", numbering 3,000 men in three battalions. By 7 September, most of Kawaguchi's troops had departed Taivu to begin marching towards Lunga Point along the coastline. About 250 Japanese troops remained behind to guard
24111-414: The post was combined with that of the governor of the Solomon Islands. The airfield which was the cause of the fighting in 1942, and which became well known as Henderson Field, is now the international airport for the Solomon Islands. It sits about five miles to the east of Honiara. The secondary airfield, known as "Fighter Two", is now the local golf course. In early 1999, long-simmering tensions between
24282-553: The province of Seville , in Andalusia , Spain, birthplace of Pedro de Ortega Valencia, a member of Mendaña's expedition. During 1942 and 1943, it was the scene of the Guadalcanal campaign and saw bitter fighting between Japanese and U.S. troops. The Americans were ultimately victorious. At the end of World War II , Honiara , on the north coast of Guadalcanal, became the new capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and later
24453-405: The reality that their ships could not safely operate in the Solomons in the daytime without first suppressing Allied airpower at Henderson Field. For six weeks, from early August to the end of September, the U.S. Navy largely avoided the waters off Tulagi and Guadalcanal, and was ordered not to resupply the Marines or provide escort duty for slow transport ships, as American naval commanders feared
24624-464: The region; meanwhile, ground-based Japanese pilots based at Rabaul were forced to undertake a grueling day-long round trip flight in order to make their attacks. Combined, this rendered daylight supply runs to Guadalcanal impossible for the Japanese. Only weeks before this, the Japanese had total control of the sea in this particular region; now they were forced to make supply runs only under the cover of darkness. Japanese naval commanders began to recognize
24795-409: The ridge before the Japanese halted their attack for the night. The next night Kawaguchi faced Edson's 840 Raiders with 3,000 troops of his brigade, reinforced by an assortment of light artillery. The Japanese began their attack just after nightfall, with Kawaguchi's 1st Battalion assaulting Edson's right flank just to the west of the ridge. After breaking through the Marine lines, the battalion's assault
24966-477: The severity of the economic crisis on the Treaty of Versailles. The far-right Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler , which had formed shortly after the peace treaty, exploited growing popular resentment and desperation to become the dominant political movement in Germany. By 1933, they gained power and rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as Nazi Germany . The Nazi regime demanded the immediate cancellation of
25137-575: The site include logging and invasive species . Allies of World War II The Allies , formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers . Its principal members by the end of 1941 were the " Big Four " – the United Kingdom , United States , Soviet Union , and China . Membership in
25308-471: The southwestern Pacific Ocean , northeast of Australia . It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second-largest by population (after Malaita ). The island is mainly covered in dense tropical rainforest and has a mountainous hinterland . Guadalcanal was first charted by Westerners during the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña in 1568. The name comes from the village of Guadalcanal , in
25479-617: The task of retaking Guadalcanal to the Imperial Japanese Army's (IJA) 17th Army , a corps -sized command based at Rabaul under the command of Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake . The army was to be supported by Japanese naval units, including the Combined Fleet under the command of Isoroku Yamamoto , which was headquartered at Truk . The 17th Army, at that time heavily involved in the Japanese campaign in New Guinea , had only
25650-412: The threat of Japanese surface action. As a result, during the Battle of Savo Island on the night of 9 August, Mikawa's force was able to surprise and sink one Australian and three American cruisers, as well as damage another American cruiser and two destroyers. The Japanese suffered only moderate damage to one cruiser. Despite this success, Mikawa was unaware that Fletcher was preparing to withdraw with
25821-422: The transports continued to unload on the night of 8–9 August, two groups of screening Allied cruisers and destroyers, under the command of British Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley , were surprised and defeated by a Japanese force of seven cruisers and one destroyer from the 8th Fleet based at Rabaul and Kavieng , commanded by Japanese Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa . The 8th fleet had been sighted at least 5 times over
25992-477: The unchallenged Japanese expansion in the East, particularly considering their defeat in previous wars with Japan; the Soviets also recognized, as the U.S. and Britain had suggested, the advantages of a two-front war . Franklin D. Roosevelt , Winston Churchill , and Joseph Stalin were The Big Three leaders. They were in frequent contact through ambassadors, top generals, foreign ministers and special emissaries such as
26163-557: The war, Britain could remain the sole great power in Europe facing the Communist threat, as it was in 1940 and 1941 against Nazism. During the early part of 1945, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria (these latter two French colonies had been declared independent states by British occupation troops, despite protests by Pétain and later De Gaulle) and Ecuador became signatories. Ukraine and Belarus , which were not independent states but parts of
26334-488: The war, lose a significant portion of territory, and pay costly reparations, among other penalties. The Weimar Republic , which formed at the end of the war and subsequently negotiated the treaty, saw its legitimacy shaken, particularly as it struggled to govern a greatly weakened economy and humiliated populace. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , and the ensuing Great Depression , led to political unrest across Europe, especially in Germany, where revanchist nationalists blamed
26505-428: The war. The alliance was largely one of convenience for each member: the U.K. realized that the Axis powers threatened not only its colonies in North Africa and Asia but also the homeland . The United States felt that the Japanese and German expansion should be contained, but ruled out force until Japan's attack. The Soviet Union, having been betrayed by the Axis attack in 1941, greatly despised German belligerence and
26676-494: The west, Vilu War Museum houses an outdoor collection of remains of various parts of military equipment and of several aircraft. Several memorials for the American, Australian, Fijian, New Zealand, and Japanese soldiers who died were erected, as well. The island hosts a native marsupial known as the phalanger or grey cuscus, Phalanger orientalis . The only other mammals are bats and rodents. Many species of colourful parrots are found there, and estuarine crocodiles inhabit
26847-585: The west, effective from 1 August 1942. Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief William D. Leahy established two goals for 1942–1943: first, that Guadalcanal would be taken, in conjunction with an Allied offensive in New Guinea under MacArthur; and second, that the Admiralty Islands and Bismarck Archipelago , including the major Japanese base at Rabaul, would be captured as well. The directive held that
27018-464: The world, had sought an alliance with the western powers, but Hitler preempted a potential war with Stalin by signing the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact in August 1939. In addition to preventing a two-front war that had battered its forces in the last world war, the agreement secretly divided the independent states of Central and Eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for
27189-543: Was "the most important of the Allied leaders during the first half of World War II". British West Africa and the British colonies in East and Southern Africa participated, mainly in the North African, East African and Middle-Eastern theatres. Two West African and one East African division served in the Burma Campaign . Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing colony, having received responsible government in 1923. It
27360-471: Was a major turning point in the war, as it stopped further Japanese expansion. Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for the campaign: To date, the only U.S. Coast Guardsman recipient of the Medal of Honor is Signalman 1st Class Douglas Albert Munro , awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism on 27 September 1942 at Point Cruz . Munro provided covering fire and helped evacuate 500 besieged Marines from
27531-445: Was bombed by Japanese high-altitude horizontal bombers and sank with the loss of 51 men. On 4–5 September, USS Little (APD-4) and USS Gregory (APD-3) had finished landing a complement of Marine Raiders back onto Guadalcanal and proceeded to patrol the area for submarines, which had been surfacing and shelling the Marines nightly. Three Japanese destroyers, who did not know that enemy surface ships were patrolling
27702-516: Was especially angered by the invasion and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia , just six months after signing the Munich Agreement , which sought to appease Hitler by ceding the mainly ethnic German Czechoslovak borderlands; while most of Europe had celebrated the agreement as a major victory for peace, the open flaunting of its terms demonstrated the failure of appeasement. Britain and France, which had been
27873-547: Was eventually stopped by Marine units occupying the northern section of the ridge. Two companies from Kawaguchi's 2nd Battalion charged up the southern edge of the ridge and pushed Edson's troops back to Hill 123, in the center section of the ridge. Throughout the night the Marines at this position, supported by a battery of howizers brought up from Lunga Point, turned back wave after wave of frontal Japanese infantry attacks, several of which devolved into hand-to-hand combat. The weight of these repeated assaults eventually pressed
28044-577: Was joined in the war against Japan by several of the Allied powers , including the British Empire and the Dutch government-in-exile , both of which had also been attacked by Japan. The Japanese made two attempts to continue their offensive and extend their outer defensive perimeter in the south and central Pacific to a point at which they could threaten Australia, Hawaii, and the U.S. west coast. The first offensive
28215-517: Was loaded onto slow transport ships for the rest of the trip to Guadalcanal. The damage done to Tanaka's convoy during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons caused the Japanese to reconsider trying to deliver more troops to Guadalcanal via slow transport. Instead, the ships carrying Kawaguchi's soldiers were rerouted to Rabaul. From there, the Japanese planned to deliver Kawaguchi's unit to Guadalcanal using fast-moving destroyers at night, staging through
28386-457: Was not a sovereign dominion. It governed itself internally and controlled its own armed forces, but had no diplomatic autonomy, and, therefore, was officially at war as soon as Britain was at war. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government issued a symbolic declaration of war nevertheless on 3 September 1939, which made no difference diplomatically but preceded the declarations of war made by all other British dominions and colonies. These included:
28557-605: Was not seriously affected by World War I. In 1932, the British confirmed the name Guadalcanal in line with the town in Andalusia, Spain. In the months following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Japanese drove the Americans out of the Philippines , the British out of British Malaya , and the Dutch out of the East Indies . The Japanese then began to expand into the western Pacific, occupying many islands in an attempt to build
28728-438: Was sunk, and the older destroyer Mutsuki was so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled. Several other Japanese warships were damaged, including Tanaka's flagship Jintsū . At this point, Tanaka withdrew and rescheduled the supply run for the night of 28 August, to be carried out by the remaining destroyers. Japanese air raids against the Allied positions on Guadalcanal continued largely unabated during this time. On 25 August,
28899-407: Was thwarted in the naval Battle of the Coral Sea , which was a tactical stalemate but a strategic Allied victory in retrospect. It was the Allies' first major victory against the Japanese and significantly reduced the offensive capability of Japan's carrier forces. However, the battle did not temper Japan's audacious offensive military posture for several crucial months, with Japanese forces attempting
29070-416: Was too anxious to prove a point ... he suffered from an inferiority complex." During December 1941, Roosevelt devised the name "United Nations" for the Allies and Churchill agreed. He referred to the Big Three and China as the " Four Policemen " repeatedly from 1942. The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations signed on 1 January 1942. There were the 26 original signatories of
29241-462: Was very confused. Free French forces were recognized only by Britain, while the United States considered Vichy France to be the legal government of the country until Operation Overlord , while also preparing U.S. occupation francs . Winston Churchill urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944; the Prime Minister feared that after
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