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On 7 August 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 to secure the islands as starting points for a campaign with the eventual goal of isolating the major Japanese base at ...
See: Guadalcanal Campaign and Battle for Henderson Field for more information Henderson Field as built up by April 1943, looking southeast to northwest. On 7 August 1942, American forces of the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions landed on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomon Islands with the objective of preventing their use against supply and communication routes ...
The Allies continued construction on the airfield immediately using captured Japanese equipment. On 12 August, the airfield was renamed Henderson Field, for Major Lofton R. Henderson, killed during the Battle of Midway, the first Marine Corps pilot killed during the battle. By 18 August, Henderson Field was ready for operation. [8]
In order to exploit the victory in the Battle for Henderson Field, Vandegrift sent six Marine battalions, later joined by one Army battalion, on an offensive west of the Matanikau. The operation was commanded by Merritt Edson and its goal was to capture Kokumbona, headquarters of the 17th Army, west of Point Cruz.
Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field. USS Lunga Point is also the name of a United States Navy escort carrier that operated in World War II.
On 12 August, the airfield was named Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine aviator who had been killed at the Battle of Midway. The Allied aircraft and pilots that subsequently operated out of Henderson Field were called the "Cactus Air Force" after the Allied code name for Guadalcanal. [8] The Solomon Islands area in the south ...
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Map of Guadalcanal and nearby islands. The Lunga Point and Koli Point areas are in the north (upper center) of the island. Because of the threat by CAF aircraft based at Henderson Field, the Japanese were unable to use large, slow transport ships to deliver troops and supplies to the island.