OPERATION WATCHTOWER / SHOESTRING
Despite this, within two weeks the Americans had secured a piece of the island that included the valuable airstrip. This airfield was soon repaired and converted to American use, and was given the name of "Henderson Field" (named after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine pilot killed at Midway). The Marines dug in and awaited reinforcements and the inevitable Japanese counter-attacks.
ARRIVAL OF THE CACTUS AIR FORCE
On August 20th twelve SBD dive bombers of VMSB-232 and
nineteen F4F fighters of VMF-223 flew off of the escort carrier Long Island and
arrived at Henderson Field. They were warmly greeted by the ground Marines, who had felt
abandoned ever since the American naval forces had left the area.
With few supplies and very little help from the outside world, the Marines really were "on their own". Everything depended on the aviators and aircraft stationed at Henderson Field to protect the Marines on the ground, who had their hands full fighting off the frequent Japanese attacks. The pilots and planes at Henderson Field soon became known as the "Cactus Air Force", since Cactus was the Allied code name for the island of Guadalcanal.
THE BATTLE OF THE EASTERN SOLOMONS
A few days after the arrival of the first U.S. aircraft,
the Japanese made their first attempt to reinforce their own troops on Guadalcanal. This
effort was supported by a Japanese fleet that included three aircraft carriers. American
Admiral Fletcher sent in his two available carriers (the Enterprise and the Saratoga)
to oppose the Japanese, and the resulting Battle of the Eastern Solomons became the third
carrier clash of the war. The Japanese lost the light carrier Ryujo and a number
of skilled naval pilots, while the U.S. suffered serious damage to the Enterprise.
Cactus pilots also got their licks in, downing seven planes from the Ryujo, at a
cost of three Wildcats and two pilots.
After the Battle of the Eastern Solomons things did not get easier for the Americans. In the three weeks beginning August 21st, the Japanese land- and carrier-based squadrons attacked the U.S. beachhead ten times , averaging more than 30 aircraft per raid. With repeated opportunities, Major John L. Smith (commander of VMF-223) and his engineering officer Capt. Marion Carl quickly became the first triple aces of the U.S. armed forces in World War II. Even though VMF-223 was reinforced by Major Robert E. Galer's VMF-224 on August 30th, the F4F Wildcats were nearly always outnumbered, even with the addition of the USAAF's 67th Fighter Squadron's P-39 Airacobras.
UNCOMMON ROUTINE
The men on Cactus soon settled into what was to become a
familiar routine. It seemed like the Japanese aerial attacks on Henderson Field were an
almost daily occurrence. Bombing raids by Japanese "Betty" bombers, escorted by
Zero fighters, would be sent down the Slot from their base at Rabaul. It would take
four hours for these raids to reach Guadalcanal. Along the way, Allied
"coastwatchers" would spot the Japanese and report on their progress to Cactus
Headquarters. This early-warning system allowed the U.S. to get airborne in time to get up
to altitude to meet the raids (most of the time). The U.S. fighter pilots were almost
always outnumbered, yet they tenaciously attacked their foes without hesitation. The
Japanese raids were usually sent home with losses, sometimes heavy. While American
victory claims were sometimes over-enthusiastic, it was probably more than made up for by
the fact that seriously damaged Japanese aircraft would rarely be able to survive the four
hour flight back home.
The Americans suffered their losses, too. Aircraft were shot down by Japanese ships, ground-fire, and Zeros. Shot-up American aircraft were frequently ditched in the ocean or brought back to base, only to serve as junkpiles to have their parts scavenged. At least the Americans stood a better chance of being rescued if they should have to ditch or parachute.
The men suffered under the conditions of the campaign as well as combat. Many of the pilots had malaria, but they continued to fly despite their illness. Combat fatigue was a danger due to the sustained pace of operations, the occasional shelling of the field by Japanese naval ships, and the ever-present likelihood of death. There were times when aircraft, aviation gas, and other crucial items were in short supply (or were non-existent). Yet the men on Cactus made do with what they had, and fought on. (Click HERE for further details about conditions of life and operations in the Guadalcanal environment.)
NEW ADDITIONS
Despite near constant combat, improvements were steadily
made at 'Cactus'. One of the most important was begun in late August when a grassy
area east of Henderson Field was prepared for flight operations. Officially called the
"Fighter Strip" (and later "Fighter One"), it was commonly called the
"Cow Pasture" due to its rural nature. Aside from relieving some of the
congestion at Henderson, it allowed the Wildcat squadrons to operate more independently.
During this time 'Cactus' became the unexpected host of another fighter squadron: (U.S. Navy) VF-5 with 24 Wildcats arrived from the carrier Saratoga. The Saratoga had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and it sent most of its air group to Guadalcanal while it was out for repairs. The arrival of this big, confident squadron with twice as many planes as the two Marine outfits put together gave a real boost to the Cactus Air Force's sagging morale. While lacking the experience of the battle-hardened Marines, the Navy pilots of VF-5 soon learned the kind of fighting required, and they began their tour with six credited victories in their first engagement. This meat-grinder of a campaign exacted its price, however; out of the 24 F4Fs that arrived on September 11th, only 5 remained after five weeks of combat.
The Marine fighter pilots were scoring heavily during this time (it was a target-rich environment). Both the leader of VMF-224 (Major Robert Galer) and the leader of VMF-212 (Lt. Col. Joe Bauer, whose squadron had not arrived on Guadalcanal yet) had run their scores into double-figures.
F4F SQUADRONS COME AND GO
Another group of reinforcements arrived on October 9th,
when Major 'Duke' Davis' VMF-121 came to Cactus with 24 much-needed Wildcats.
Davis' executive officer was Capt. Joseph Foss, who had connived his way out of a photo
squadron into fighters. Foss immediately began setting records. He claimed his first
victory just four days after landing on Guadalcanal, and became an ace five days after
that! On October 25th he became the Marine's first ace-in-a-day, when he got five Zeros in
two missions.
However, by early October VMF-223 and VMF-224 were largely a spent force. The unrelenting pace of operations resulted in their removal from the theater, despite there being few replacements to take their place. John Smith left with 19 victories to his credit, with Marion Carl close behind with 16 1/2 victories.
THE BATTLE OF SANTA CRUZ
On October 25th the fourth carrier battle of the war
occurred. Called the Battle of Santa Cruz (because of its proximity to the Santa Cruz
Islands, 300 miles to the east of the Solomons), it was outside of the reach of the
Guadalcanal airmen, but it was important to them nonetheless. The Japanese carrier task
force was covering a major reinforcement attempt of Guadalcanal, and if it got through,
the Marines on the island would be in deep trouble. Outnumbered four carriers to two, the
Americans lost the carrier Hornet and had to send the damaged Enterprise
away for repairs, and the victory went to the Japanese. However, the Japanese lost many
valuable aircrew and had two carriers damaged, and they withdrew from the area.
Cactus had once again received a reprieve.
THE NAVAL BATTLE OF GUADALCANAL, AND THE END
In mid-November Japanese Admiral Yamamoto made his final
bid to take the island of Guadalcanal. He sent a force of battleships,
cruisers, and destroyers to level the airfield with gunfire. American warships and
aircraft (including planes detached from the crippled Enterprise) met his forces
in what was later called the Naval Battle Of Guadalcanal. At the end of three days of
fighting, the Imperial Navy had had 13 ships sunk and 9 others damaged. Japanese Admiral
Yamamoto decided that the cost was not worth it, and favored abandoning the island to the
Americans. However, it was not until the end of the year that the continual losses of men,
aircraft, and ships persuaded General Tojo (the head of the Japanese military) to concede
the island. During the first week of February 1943 the last 11,000 Japanese survivors were
taken off what they had come to call the "Island of Death".
LOSSES TO BOTH SIDES
The losses suffered by the Japanese during the
Guadalcanal campaign were heavy. The loss of highly-trained aircrew during the continual
air battles was to haunt them later in the war, when their remaining flyers were too-often
rookies, who were undertrained and no match for the vast groups of well-trained American
pilots who used their new aircraft like the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair, and P-38 Lightning
to destroy the remainder of their opposition.
That the Americans could be so successful in combat against the cream of the Imperial air forces during the first year of the war was an impressive feat. The F4F Wildcat was considered by many to be inferior to its opponent, the Japanese Zero. The Americans had to develop tactics to counter the Zero's advantages, and the determination and training of the U.S. aviators helped make up the difference.
The price was not cheap, however. The U.S. Navy had a 21% loss rate in its fighter pilots during the first year of the war. This included 31 pilots killed during the Guadalcanal campaign, with another two captured. This equated to one out of three pilots engaged being killed. The Marine pilots lost 25 fighter pilots, sustaining a 20% loss rate during the campaign.
AFTERWARDS
Even with Guadalcanal firmly in American hands, the
aviators stationed there continued to see combat. The island would be used as a
jumping-off stage for further offensive actions, including one of the most famous fighter
missions of the war. On April 18, 1943 USAAF P-38 Lightnings took off from Henderson Field
and made a long-range interception of Admiral Yamamoto's flight, shooting him down over
the island of Bouganville.
FINALE
And so the battle for Guadalcanal passed into history.
The hard-fought battles of the American ground forces and the aerial combats of the
"Cactus Air Force" began their slow slide into obscurity, with 19 more months of
combat still to go in the war. But for those who were there, and for those who knew
them, they will never be forgotten. If this site helps preserve that memory in some
small way, then it will have served its purpose.
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