| 7 August 1942 U.S. Forces Land on Guadalcanal |
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| American military planners sought to capitalize on
the victory at Midway by going on the offensive in the Southwest Pacific. General Douglas MacArthur,
overall Allied commander in the region, wanted to make a direct assault on the Japanese base at
Rabaul, but was overruled. Instead the offensive would be aimed at the Solomon Islands, specifically
the island of Guadalcanal. On August 7 the 1st Marine Division landed on the north side of Guadalcanal
and, encountering very little resistance, captured the airbase that the Japanese had been building
there.
The campaign for Guadalcanal, however, had just begun, and would continue through the rest of the year. It involved battles fought on land, sea, and air, as both sides sought to reinforce and supply their troops on the island. In particular the region would see some of the fiercest surface naval combat of the war, with both sides sustaining substantial losses in ships and men. Eventually, though, the Americans succeeded in cutting off all sources of supply to the Japanese on Guadalcanal, so that by the end of November they were facing starvation. Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the Japanese decided to evacuate the island, and they did so under cover of darkness at the beginning of February. The United States had lost 1,600 killed and 4,700 wounded in the struggle for Guadalcanal, but these casualties paled before those of the Japanese—nearly 24,000 dead, from battle, disease, or starvation. Histories: Campaign Maps: Photographs: Personal Accounts: |
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