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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.
A new Torpedo Squadron 8 was established in 1943 as part of the new Carrier Air Group 8 (CVG-8). It was assigned to the newly commissioned aircraft carrier Intrepid at Norfolk in November 1943. After training in the Caribbean Sea , VT-8 left Intrepid at Pearl Harbor in January 1944. [ 2 ]
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AirSols superseded and absorbed the Cactus Air Force, which controlled Allied air units in the Solomons during 1942–43.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.
He would become commander of the Cactus Air Force on November 7, 1942 [2] and lead the men through the lowest point in the campaign until he turned the command over to Brigadier General Francis P. Mulcahy on December 26, 1942.
English: Cactus Air Force aircraft crowd Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, circa in 1942. Visible are (circa) 21 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers, eight Grumman TBF-1 Avenger torpedo bombers, three Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina patrol planes and four Boeing B-17E/F Flying Fortress bombers.