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The Cactus Air Force was the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the most heavily contested phases of the Guadalcanal Campaign, particularly those operating from Henderson Field. The name is based on "Cactus", the Allied code name for the island.
The Cactus Air Force Wings and Wheels Museum is a non-profit organization located at the Carson City Airport in Carson City, Nevada. History
From 25 December 1942, until 8 February 1943, they operated from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal as part of the Cactus Air Force. [6] They were reorganized as Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 233 (VMTB-233) on 22 May 1943, but the official re-designation of the squadron did not take place until 13 June, when they had returned to the United States.
The airfield's rudimentary nature meant that carrier aircraft, designed for rough landings on flight decks at sea, were more suited for use on Henderson Field than ground-based planes. The aircraft based at Henderson became known as the "Cactus Air Force", after the Allied codename for Guadalcanal, Cactus. The Marine fighters went into action ...
The Japanese inability to retake Guadalcanal is largely to do with air operations conducted by the Cactus Air Force. The early warning radars and fighter direction provided by the Guadalcanal Radar Detachment were critical to that effort by allowing the Cactus Air Force to husband its critically short fighter planes during the most desperate ...
When Saratoga was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, the squadron was assigned to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, where it served as part of the Cactus Air Force. VTR-8 fought there to the point where all aircraft were disabled, and then operated as a single-aircraft unit, as one plane at a time was put back into service by salvaging parts ...
On this day, the Japanese 11th Air Fleet under Jinichi Kusaka based at Rabaul sent 16 Mitsubishi G4M2 "Betty" bombers and 28 A6M2 Zero fighters to attack Henderson Field. In response, 24 F4F-4 Wildcats and four P-400 Airacobras from the CAF (Cactus Air Force) rose to meet them, resulting in a large aerial battle. To Allied observers, the ...
Marine Fighting Squadron 132 (VMF-132) was a fighter squadron in the United States Marine Corps.The squadron, also known as "The Crying Red Asses", fought in World War II as a dive bomber unit during the Battle of Guadalcanal as part of the Cactus Air Force and later fought in the Central Solomon Islands.