Guadalcanal campaign

A series of land, sea, and air battles fought between Allied and Japanese forces for Guadalcanal and nearby islands from August 1942 to February 1943. It ended with Japan's withdrawal and the Allies' first major land victory in the Pacific War.

Henderson Field: An Allied airfield on Guadalcanal captured from Japan in August 1942 and used to support the campaign. Aircraft based here made Japanese daylight movement near Guadalcanal increasingly dangerous.
Battle of Savo Island: A disastrous nighttime naval defeat for the Allies near Guadalcanal on August 9, 1942. It exposed the danger to Allied transports supporting the landing force.
Alexander Vandegrift: A U.S. Marine Corps general who commanded the 1st Marine Division during the Guadalcanal campaign. He led the defense of the Allied beachhead and Henderson Field through the early fighting.
Operation Watchtower: The Allied operation to seize Tulagi and Guadalcanal, launched in August 1942. It was the amphibious operation that opened the campaign.
Operation Ke: The Japanese evacuation of Guadalcanal, completed in February 1943. Its completion marked Japan's abandonment of the island after the campaign.
Tokyo Express: The Allied name for Japanese nighttime destroyer runs carrying troops and supplies to isolated Pacific garrisons. These runs sustained Japanese forces while evading Allied aircraft operating by day.
Battle of the Eastern Solomons: A carrier battle fought east of the Solomon Islands on August 24–25, 1942. It blunted a Japanese effort to reinforce Guadalcanal by sea.
William Halsey: A U.S. Navy admiral who commanded Allied forces in the South Pacific during much of the Guadalcanal campaign. His command directed the naval and air effort to keep the island supplied.
Japanese occupation of the Solomon Islands: Japan's wartime occupation of parts of the Solomon Islands, including Guadalcanal, to extend its defensive perimeter. Japanese construction of an airfield on Guadalcanal prompted the Allied landing.
Pacific War: The theater of World War II fought across East Asia and the Pacific Ocean from 1937 to 1945. The Guadalcanal campaign was an early turning point within this wider war.

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