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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 organization acquired four O-2s from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in 1996. [1]The organization received approval to build a 12,000 sq ft (1,100 m 2) facility from the airport authority in May 2013.
Allied aircraft operating out of Henderson were called the "Cactus Air Force" (CAF) after the Allied code name for Guadalcanal. To protect the airfield, the U.S. Marines established a perimeter defense around Lunga Point. Additional reinforcements over the next two months increased the number of U.S. troops at Lunga Point to more than 20,000 men.
AirSols superseded and absorbed the Cactus Air Force, which controlled Allied air units in the Solomons during 1942–43. AirSols was made up of United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) and the Thirteenth Air Force , United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) forces.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 112, was originally activated as VMF-112, at San Diego, California on 1 March 1942.. Original VMF-112 Squadron Patch. Deploying shortly after to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in their Grumman F4F Wildcats, the Wolfpack joined the Cactus Air Force with Marine Aircraft Group 11.
The Squadron was originally formed from personnel from VMSB-132 coming from Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico, Virginia. [2] On August 30, 1942, the squadron departed San Diego for the South Pacific with the first echelon of aircraft arriving at Henderson Airfield, Guadalcanal on September 23, 1942 becoming part of the Cactus Air Force (CAF). [1]
120 Squadron SAAF was a South African Air Force squadron formed in 1970 to operate the South African/French Cactus surface-to-air missile systems in an air defence role. The unit was disbanded when the Cactus system was retired from service in the late 1980s.
122 Squadron SAAF was a South African Air Force squadron formed in 1970 to operate the South African/French Cactus surface-to-air missile systems in an air defence role. The unit was disbanded when the Cactus system was retired from service in the late 1980s.