Battle for Henderson Field

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II

A United States Marine defending the Lunga perimeter takes a break during a lull in the battle while keeping a submachine gun close at hand.

Date	October 23, 1942 – October 26, 1942
Location	Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
Result	Allied victory

Combatants

United States
Australia
Solomon Islands

Japan

Commanders

Alexander Vandegrift

Harukichi Hyakutake

Strength

23,088^[1]

14,000^[2]

Casualties

61-86 killed^[3]

2,200+ killed^[4]

Guadalcanal campaign
Tulagi – Savo I. – Tenaru – Eastern Solomons – Edson's Ridge – Cape Esperance – Henderson Field – Santa Cruz Is. – Naval Guadalcanal – Tassafaronga – Ke – Rennell I.

Solomon Islands campaign
1st Tulagi – Guadalcanal – Blackett Strait – Cartwheel – Death of Yamamoto – New Georgia – Kula Gulf – Kolombangara – Vella Gulf – Horaniu – Vella Lavella – Naval Vella Lavella – Treasury Is. – Choiseul – Empress Augusta Bay – Cape St. George – Green Is. – 2nd Rabaul – Bougainville

The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Henderson Field, took place October 23–26, 1942, and was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States (U.S.) Marine and U.S. Army) ground forces. The battle was the third of three separate major land offensives by the Japanese in the Guadalcanal campaign.

In the battle, U.S. Marine and Army forces, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, successfully repulsed an attack by the Japanese 17th Army, under the command of Japanese Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake. The U.S. forces were defending the Lunga perimeter, which guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, that was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. Hyakutake's force was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off of the island. Hyakutake's soldiers conducted numerous assaults over three days at various locations around the Lunga perimeter but all were repulsed with heavy losses for the Japanese attackers.

The battle was the last serious ground offensive conducted by Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. After an attempt to deliver further reinforcements failed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November, 1942, Japan conceded defeat in the struggle for the island and successfully evacuated its remaining forces by the first week of February, 1943.

1 References

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 338. Number reflects total Allied forces on Guadalcanal, not necessarily the number directly involved in the battle.
^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 330. Number reflects the total Japanese forces under Hyakutake's command on Guadalcanal, not necessarily the number actually involved in the battle.
^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 364-365. Casualty figures from various official U.S. military records differ somewhat from each other.
^ Frank, Guadalcanal, p. 365. U.S. 1st Marine Division official history estimates 2,200 Japanese were killed but Frank states that that number, "is probably below the actual total."

[edit] Books

Frank, Richard (1990). Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58875-4.
Griffith, Samuel B. (1963). The Battle for Guadalcanal. Champaign, Illinois, USA: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-06891-2.
McGee, William L. (2002). The Solomons Campaigns, 1942–1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII). BMC Publications. ISBN 0-9701678-7-3.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943, vol. 5 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-58305-7. Online views of selections of the book:[1]
Tregaskis, Richard (1943). Guadalcanal Diary. Random House. ISBN 0-679-64023-1.

[edit] External links

Anderson, Charles R. (1993). GUADALCANAL (brochure). U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
Cagney, James (2005). The Battle for Guadalcanal (javascript). HistoryAnimated.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-17.- Interactive animation of the battle
Chen, C. Peter (2004 - 2006). Guadalcanal Campaign. World War II Database. Retrieved on 2006-05-17.
Flahavin, Peter (2004). Guadalcanal Battle Sites, 1942–2004. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.- Web site with many pictures of Guadalcanal battle sites from 1942 and how they look now.
Hough, Frank O.; Ludwig, Verle E., and Shaw, Henry I., Jr.. Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal. History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II. Retrieved on 2006-05-16.
Miller, John Jr. (1949). GUADALCANAL: THE FIRST OFFENSIVE. UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II. Retrieved on 2006-07-04.
Shaw, Henry I. (1992). First Offensive: The Marine Campaign For Guadalcanal. Marines in World War II Commemorative Series. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
Zimmerman, John L. (1949). The Guadalcanal Campaign. Marines in World War II Historical Monograph. Retrieved on 2006-07-04.