Battle Of Guadalcanal

The Battle of Guadalcanal was a pivotal battle of World War II, fought between the Americans and the Japanese on the Island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific.

Guadalcanal was part of the Solomon Island chain, and had been occupied by the Japanese in 1942. They began to construct an airfield, which when completed would threaten Allied supply lines to Australia.

American Marines invaded Guadalcanal, while naval battles raged nearby. The airfield was renamed Henderson Field, and survived persistant Japanese attempts to recapture it.

Meanwhile the US Navy gradually gained superiority, and the Japanese were forced to run in reinforcements and supplies during dangerous nighttime convoys. It became a battle of attrition in which the circumstances increasingly favored the Americans. By February 1943, the Japanese gave up and evacuating their remaining forces.