Battle for Henderson Field

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Battle for Henderson Field
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 Decisive Allied victory
Combatants
Allied forces including: United States British Solomon Islands Protectorate	Empire of Japan
Commanders
Alexander Vandegrift	Harukichi Hyakutake, Kiyotaki Kawaguchi Masao Maruyama Yumio Nasu
Strength
23,088[1]	14,000[2]
Casualties
61-86 killed[3]	2,200 – 3,000 killed[4]

Guadalcanal campaign
Tulagi – Savo I. – Tenaru – Eastern Solomons – Edson's Ridge – Matanikau – 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 – Bougainville – Rabaul carrier raid – Cape St. George – Green Is.

The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Henderson Field, took place October 23–26, 1942, and was a land, sea, and air battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and Allied (mainly United States (U.S.) Marine and U.S. Army) 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. At the same time, Allied aircraft operating from Henderson Field successfully defended against attacks on Guadalcanal by Japanese naval air and sea forces.

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.

Contents 1 Background 2 Battle 3 Aftermath 4 References 4.1 Notes 4.2 Books 4.3 External links

[edit] Background

On August 7, 1942, Allied forces (primarily U.S.) landed on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida Islands in the Solomon Islands. The landings on the islands were meant to deny their use by the Japanese as bases for threatening the supply routes between the U.S. and Australia, and secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul while also supporting the Allied New Guinea campaign. The landings initiated the six-month-long Guadalcanal campaign.^[5]

[edit] Battle

Finally on 23 October, with the addition of more troops, the Japanese made another attempt to capture Henderson Field from the south of the salient. The newly arrived U.S. Army's 164th Infantry Regiment and 1st Battalion, 7th Marines defended this position, and after a determined battle the attack was finally repulsed after committing the U.S. reserves.

On October 25 Platoon Sergeant Mitchell Paige and 33 marine riflemen emplaced four water-cooled .30-caliber Browning machine guns on a ridge to defend Henderson Field. By the time the night was over the Japanese 29th Infantry Regiment had lost 553 killed or missing and 479 wounded among its 2,554 men. The Japanese 16th Regiment's losses were not accounted for but the 164th's burial parties handled 975 Japanese bodies. Total American estimates for Japanese casualties on that ridge were 2,200. All the men in Paige's platoon were either killed or wounded during the night of fierce fighting. Paige moved up and down the line placing dead and wounded troops back into foxholes and firing short bursts from each of the four Brownings to deceive the Japanese that a force still held the ridge. Paige was subsequently cited for a Medal of Honor for his actions that night.

At dawn of the next day, battalion executive officer Major Odell M. Conoley reinforced Paige on the hill. It was decided that they would charge the remnants of the two Japanese regiments who were now regrouping. Conoley gathered his resources who consisted of "three enlisted communication personnel, several riflemen, a few company runners who were at the point, together with a cook and a few messmen who had brought food to the position the evening before."

[edit] Aftermath

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[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]
• Rottman, Gordon L.; Dr. Duncan Anderson (consultant editor) (2005). Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43. Oxford and New York: Osprey. ISBN 1-84176-870-7. 
• 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.