Dr. Clif CleavelandSeventy-five years ago, on Aug. 7, 1942, 6,000 Marines of the Corps’ 1st Division launched our country’s first ground offensive in World War II. Their amphibious landing on Guadalcanal was unopposed. They came ashore with inadequate supplies of food, fuel, medicines, insect repellent and defensive equipment. Simultaneous landings on three tiny adjacent islands encountered stiff resistance until enemy forces were eliminated.
Guadalcanal sits at the northeastern approach to Australia, a vital site for the buildup of Allied forces in the Pacific. Plans to capture the island were accelerated when a Japanese force of 2,800 seized the island in July and began construction of an airfield.
The Marines captured the partially completed airfield on Aug. 8 and began using equipment abandoned by the Japanese to complete the landing site. Captured supplies of rice supplemented their inadequate rations. Henderson Field welcomed its first warplanes on Aug. 20. Ground crews struggled to maintain enough flight-worthy aircraft to provide defense against almost daily air raids. Fuel supplies were almost exhausted on several occasions. Volunteer coast watchers positioned behind enemy lines provided advanced warning of incoming enemy bombers.
The small Japanese garrison was rapidly reinforced to 36,000 by the end of October. U.S. Army reinforcements from an activated regiment of the North Dakota National Guard landed in mid-October. Bolstered by further Army and Marine reinforcements U.S. forces numbered 44,000 at the end of the campaign.
Six major naval battles took place around Guadalcanal as each side sought to land troops and supplies, while denying reinforcements to its enemy. Each side lost 24 warships. U.S. losses included eight cruisers, 12 destroyers and two aircraft carriers. From these battles, the U.S. Navy learned that its torpedoes were often ineffective and that its nighttime tactics were inferior to those of the Japanese.