The Battle for Guadalcanal (#608-611)
Fun Fact #608
Operation Watchtower
After a stunning victory at the Battle of Midway in 1942, The US admiralty decided that they were done being defensive in The Pacific. Now was the time to press the attack before Japan could recover. Only one question remained: What would they attack first?
The answer came when American reconnaissance spotted construction of a Japanese Air field at Lunga Point. If the base was allowed to be completed then it could be used to isolate The North Coast of Australia and New Zealand from the rest of the Allied forces. Thus on August 9th 7th 1942 the US hastily launched its first Amphibious landing of WW2 and quickly took the construction site from behind the Japanese fleet. Admiral Yamato then ordered the IJN Fleet to bombard the Airfield only to be caught off guard when The US Navy came in under the command of Vice Admiral Ghormley to hammer them from behind. The combined IJN Fleet fell back from the battle to regroup and assault the Island for another 6 months, becoming one of the most hotly contested battles of The Pacific Theater in WW2.
Fun Fact #609
The Sea Bees
As soon as The Japanese abandoned Lunga Point, The US navy sent in their Construction Battalion (The Seabees) to finish assembling the airfield which Japan had so painstakingly prepared. Despite fending off several Land Assaults, Air Raids, and even a number of Naval Bombardments, The Seabees finished Henderson Airfield in record time allowing reinforcements to arrive on the Island. The only issue now was keeping the field in running condition as Admiral Yamamoto and General Hyatukake kept up their attempts to retake point Lunga by any possible means for the next 6 months.
By the end of Operation Watchtower, Henderson Airfield No1. was described as a Dore drawing from hell (A French Illustrator famous for using “Vulgarism” to illustrate the Bible, and Edgar Allen Poe’s works). Thanks to this reputation The Seabees were ordered to make a second runway named “Fighter Field 1” which was greatly improved. The second airfield is still in use today as part of Honiara International Airport.
Fun Fact #610
The Cactus Airforce
On August 18th, 11 days after the initial seizure of Lunga Point by The US Marines, Henderson Airfield was officially declared ready for flight operations. Yet there was multiple issues with the airfield –aside from the constant attacks by the Japenese– the runway was initially too short for anything but fighter aircraft, and pockmarks in the field led to as many casualties from damaged aircraft as Japan shot up during the battle.
Yet as time went on a new force formed from the survivors of US Airforce/Navy/Marines and Royal New Zealand Airforce. They assembled their flights with planes from the various planes maintained with parts cannibalized from the disabled aircraft which littered the sides of Henderson Airfield. Doing this they maintained an air wing of roughly 5 AirCobras, 23 SBDs (Scout Dive bombers, known as Scout Bomber Douglas), and 37 WIldcats from the remains of 8 different Squaderons. They named themselves after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal, becoming The Cactus Air Force (CAF).
While they fought in most of the battles for Gudal Canal, possibly the worst part of The CAF was their living conditions. Without structures, they made camp in a nearby coconut grove which had been abandoned due to a flooding problem, and built mud floored huts which became known for near constant Mosquitos and Malaria. The worst night they ever spent there was on the night of October 12th when The Japanese sent a ground assault to Point Lunga through what they thought was an abandoned Coconut grove, only to find it was Mosquito Grove, home to the CAF who fought off their surprise guests while Henderson Airfield was bombarded by 700 heavy Shells. In the aftermath they found that despite the odds only 6 CAF members were killed, and the field had some new “Art” in need of fixing.
The Cacti would remain operational for the remainder of the war, quickly becoming a curse to Japanese Zeros after two of their members (John Thatch and Edward Ohare) developed the Thatch Weave. The Strategy negated the Zero’s higher speed and maneuverability by having two or more planes fly in regularly intersecting flight paths so a Zero would be focused on one plane allowing their wingman to attack the pursuer. The Thatch weave is still taught today as “Beam Defense Position”. By the war’s end, The Cactus Airforce was composed of the remains of 33 squadrons, 6 Medal of Honor recipients, and credited with the sinking of 17 Japanese Large Vessels. Sadly their casualties were also high with 94 confirmed deceased, 177 injured, and a number of MIA most of which were located, and identified post war as having died in Japanese POW camps.
A “Crowd” of Cacti on Henderson AirField in late October 1942
Fun Fact #611
Iorn Bottom Sound
(Incomplete Fun Fact) The location where the majority of ships were sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal numbering 116 large vessels in total not to mention a large number or Aircraft, Supply Vessels, and Small Craft. A Sound in nautical terms is like a reef but different due to colder currents and closer landmasses.
