Advance in the Western Pacific
After the Battle of Midway, the strategic focus of Japan and the United States shifted to an obscure and remote corner of the Western Pacific known as the Solomon Islands. On August 7, 1942, the 1st Marine Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, landed on Guadalcanal and quickly took control of a partially finished airstrip, which the Marines renamed Henderson Field. Work on the runway was rushed to completion, and, in little over a week, Marine dive-bombers and fighter aircraft were landing to add airpower to the defense of the new base.
Contrary to the ease of its capture, the defense of Guadalcanal became a long, drawn-out nightmare for the Marines ashore and the sailors at sea. On the night of the second day, a strong Japanese naval force arrived and decimated the U.S. covering force. In the night Battle of Savo Island the Allies lost four cruisers and one thousand seamen. The Japanese fleet turned away before finishing the fleet of transport ships still off-loading cargo across the beaches, miraculously saving the invasion from ruin.
The desperate struggle for Guadalcanal continued for four months. Both sides were forced to resupply and reinforce at night due to the threat of air strikes during daylight hours. The Japanese were able to bring in a constant stream of new troops and, by early November, outnumbered the Marines. They launched attack after attack against the positions around Henderson Field. The Marines held on in spite of hunger, malaria, and severe shortages of equipment and supplies. At this point in the war, the North African landings and supply convoys to England and Russia were competing for every item of logistical support.
As the Marines held on ashore the Navy fought a series of battles at sea that would prove critical to the final outcome. Fortunately, the determined and aggressive Adm. William F. “Bull” Halsey took command of the naval forces conducting the Solomons campaign. On the night of November 1415 a battleship engagement was fought off Guadalcanal. The Japanese lost one of their largest ships, and another major resupply effort was thwarted. After this, the Japanese did not launch another significant offensive against the island. The Marines were relieved on December 9, at which time General Vandegrift told his men: “ It may well be that this modest operation begun four months ago today has, through your efforts, been successful in thwarting the large aims of our enemy in the Pacific.”162
As the Marines were securing Guadalcanal, American and Australian forces under Gen. Douglas MacArthur were defeating Japanese forces defending the Papuan Peninsula on the southern end of New Guinea. In early 1943, both forces went on the offensive, advancing toward the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul on the eastern end of New Britain. MacArthur’s units leapfrogged up the coast of New Guinea as Halsey’s force, spearheaded by the Marines, attacked through the central Solomons and Bougainville.
By early 1944 both forces converged on the Admiralty Islands. When Manus was taken and forward naval and air bases established, Rabaul was effectively bypassed, isolating and neutralizing more than ninety thousand Japanese troops in strong defensive positions. At this point, MacArthur was ready to continue his advance along the coast of New Guinea toward the Philippines as the bulk of Navy and Marine units turned their attention to the Central Pacific.