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While the battle of Iwo Jima started in the month of February Guadalcanal ended in the month of February ... also never to be forgotten, source USMC history division
Guadalcanal Campaign 7 August 1942 – 9 February 1943
(6 months and 2 days)

Part 1


Ships loaded with marines heading to Gaudalcanal


Artillery on board ship, preparatory to be taken ashore, off Guadalcanal, September 1942.


Marines making landing upon beach-head with amphibious tractors during training maneuvers.


Marines in landing boats, after leaving ships at rendezvous off Guadalcanal.


MARINE GUNS COME ASHORE – Ever watchful for a sign of the enemy, Marines land needed guns and trucks on the beach of Guadalcanal Island, with the aid of a sturdy Higgins landing boat.


1st wave of Marines at Tetere Beach where the advanced echelon of the Marine Division landed.


LEAVING GUADALCANAL: Marines are kept busy loading material into Higgins boats on the beach at Guadalcanal. All hands “turned to” to load as fast as they could for all men welcomed the chance to take another sea voyage.


105mm howitzer mounted on an amphibious vehicle.


Tired marines


MARINE HEADQUARTERS – Headquarters area. Marines in a coconut grove near the Tenaru River, Guadalcanal.


During the rainy season on Guadalcanal, camp areas were flooded, causing American troops much misery. As example is this coconut grove Marine camp. Equipment was soaked and fire-arms were increasingly difficult to keep free from rust. Even under these conditions, the Marines continued their daily duties.


Japanese bomber planes (Bettys) skim the ocean as they attack the American transport, Hunter Liggett, carrying Marines off Guadalcanal. The sky is filled with the black bursts of anti-aircraft fire thrown up by the ships.


MARINES GO WADING – A patrol composed of fighting Leathernecks start their trek on a mission at sunset on Guadalcanal, Solomon Island.


Guadalcanal


Guadalcanal…..The original Henderson Field soon after its capture from the Japanese. Taken from a Grumman J2F “Duck”. Nov 1942

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Part 2


.50 caliber machine gun emplacements.


READY FOR ACTION – This 75mm gun crew, stationed on the island of Tulagi, are ready for action should the occasion demand it


A 40mm gun emplacement on Guadalcanal.


MARINES WELCOME STATION – Field gun emplacements like this, all well camouflaged behind concealing sandbags, give Marines in the Solomons quite a vantage point against Japanese attacks. This particular emplacement was constructed by the Japanese, captured and revamped by the Leathernecks.


Lieutenant General Thomas A. Holcomb, Colonel Merritt A. Edson, and Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift caught in a candid shot during the Lieutenant General’s inspection on Guadalcanal.


MARINE COMMANDANT VISITS GUADALCANAL – Touring Guadalcanal battle fields is Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb (second from left, front row), Marine Corps Commandant, who recently made a flying trip to the Solomons. Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift walks beside him. Also in the foreground wearing police cartridge belt, is Colonel Merritt A. Edson, Commanding Officer of a Marine Raider Battalion.


Admiral Nimitz presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Colonel Carlson on Guadalcanal. Colonel Edson and General Rupertus in background.


Admiral Nimitz presenting medals to the bravest of the brave on Guadalcanal.

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Part 3


GUADALCANAL – FRONT LINE COMMAND POST AT GUADALCANAL – Colonel R. Hall Jeschke, regimental command, and brother-in-law of Major Devereaux, of Wake Island fame, discusses a problem with Lieutenant Colonel August Fricke.


Marines at work in operational dugout. Lieutenant Colonel Merrill B. Twining, USMC, and Lieutenant Colonel Henry W. Buse.


Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marine Corps, makes an inspection tour of the front lines. Left to right: Major General Vandegrift, General Holcomb, Colonel Sims, Amor LeRoy, and Colonel Frisbie.


MACHINE GUN GUARDS MARINES WHILE BATHING – While Marines of an engineering battalion take much needed baths in the river at a South Pacific island, a machine gunner keeps a sharp eye on the opposite bank for possible snipers on patrol.


AWAITING CHOW CALL – In their newly dug trench, two Marines wait beside their weapons for “Chow Call,” near the front lines on Guadalcanal. The Leathernecks have an assortment of fire power to turn upon an enemy – the one on the right, has a sub-machine gun across his knee and a supply of grenades by his side, while the other Marine stands behind a .30 caliber light machine-gun.


MARINES FIGHT ANOTHER ENEMY – This time it’s the tropical hurricane that the Marines are battling. In this photo they are shown struggling against the elements to prevent their food supply from getting wet or damaged during a recent hurricane in the Southwest Pacific.


Command Post, Second Battalion, First Marines, located near the Tenaru River, Guadalcanal, 1942.

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Part 4


The interior of the former Japanese barracks converted by the Marines into a hospital on Guadalcanal.


This pagoda was headquarters for U.S. Marine Corps and Navy fliers at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal Island. After surviving numerous Japanese bombings, the building was torn down following a near miss which rendered it useless as a shelter.


The bulldogs approaching the target, Guadalcanal.


Using their home-made apparatus constructed of coconut logs mechanics bore sight the machine guns in an F4U.


VMF-212 flight personnel believed to have been taken at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, September – November 1942.


Grumman F4F Wildcat pictured on the ground with its engine running at Guadalcanal circa 1942


Marine Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats parked on the Fighter Strip at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal on January 1943.


“FLYING SHARK” --- Bell Aircobra or better known as the P-39, done up in war paint, shown off the runway at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, in the Solomons.

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Part 5


Going “home” from the front, a group of U.S. Marines tired and weary from continuous fighting, march through the valley and over the fighter strip to rest before leaving the Solomons to reorganize and train for future operations.


CAMERA STUDY OF A MARINE AT WORK – Bronzed by the Pacific sun, Corporal Manual V. Garcia, of Pasadena, California, in the Solomons. Along with several others he maintains a 24-hour watch, noting enemy movements, artillery fire and spotting the effects of our own guns.


MOVING TO JUNGLE FRONT – A detachment of U.S. Marines pauses in a jungle clearing for a brief rest en route to the front on Guadalcanal Island. The Marine in the right foreground has attached to his helmet netting for use in camouflaging himself in the dense undergrowth. Shortly after this photo was taken, these Leathernecks drove an enemy band far into the hills.


A BOON TO AMERICANS – Natives such as these have been instrumental in the progress made by the Marines. These native policemen helped Captain Martin Clemens, Solomon Islands Defense Forces. An Australian, Captain Clemens remained on Guadalcanal throughout the Japanese occupation.


GUADALCANAL HEROES – These Marines are some of the reasons why the U.S. has a new operating base in the southwest Pacific – Guadalcanal. From l. to r.: MajGen A.A. Vandegrift, Guadalcanal Marine Commander; Col Merritt A. Edson, Commander of a Guadalcanal Marine raider battalion; 2dLt Mitchell Paige, and P/Sgt John Basilone. General Vandegrift and Col Edson hold the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lt Paige and Sgt Basilone were similarly decorated at recent ceremonies at their south Pacific base. Both were machine gunners on Guadalcanal, and are the only enlisted men of the campaign to win the nation’s highest wartime award. The former recently commissioned a 2d Lt.


“TIGER” HITS BACK AT Japanese – After serving eight months with the famous “Flying Tigers,” American volunteer group in China, is Major Gregory Boyington, USMC, of Okanogan, Wash., Commanding Officer of a Marine Fighter Squadron, somewhere in the South Pacific.

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Part 6


Commanding General of the First Division and part of his Division Staff. Most of these officers were regimental commanders, battalion commanders and executives of regiments and battalions.


VMSB 201


VF-6 poses in front of a tent on Guadalcanal


VMF-213


VMF-214 CO Boyington at Barakoma Airstrip on Vella LaVella Island


Muddy F4U-1's on the Turtle Bay airstrip Espiritu Santo


TBF-1 of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty-One (VMSB-131) pictured parked on grass at Guadalcanal 1942


TBF-1 Avenger, of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron One Hundred Thirty-One (VMSB-131) pictured parked on grass at Guadalcanal 1942


TBF-1's on the ground at Guadalcanal 1942


SBDs VS-6 en route to Santa Isabel 1942

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Part 7


SBD-4 Dauntless with Marine Scout Bomber Squadron Two Hundred Thirty-Three (VMSB-233) pictured at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal 1943


Lt. Harris I believe


Lt. H S Huidekoper VMF-213 'The Hellhawks' F4U-1 Corsair, Munda, 1943


First Lieutenant Sheldon O. Hall of VMF-213, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 1943


First Lieutenant Paul A. Mullen of VMF-214, Guadalcanal, June 6th 1943


F4U-1 Corsairs of VMF-213 are standing by on Fighter Strip No. 1 of Henderson Field, Guadalcanal 1943

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Part 8


F4U-1 Corsair aircraft of VMF-213 warmed up Henderson Field, Guadalcanal 1943


F4U Corsair aircraft of VMF-124, the Bull Dog Squadron, shipboard fighters stationed on Guadalcanal 1943


F4F-4 Wildcat of VMF-121 c 1942


Captain Francis E. Pierce Jr of VMF-212


Lt. Kenneth Walsh of VMF-124, November 1943


Maj Gregory J. Weissenberger of VMF-213, Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, June 1943


First Lieutenant Wallace E. Sigler of VMF-124, Guadalcanal, May 9th 1943

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Part 9


A formation of three SBD-5s of Composite Squadron 24 (VC-24) off USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) pictured in formation near Guadalcanal


B-17E over Guadalcanal 1942


B-17F's 26 BS 11BG c 1942


War relics at the Vilu War Museum - Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

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Thanks for sharing.

Amazing pictures of the 'Canal'. Most of which I've never seen!

Thanks!

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Scott 'Gunny' Perdue
http://www.eagleflyingmuseum.org

a movie should be made about the aussie coast watchers, w/ clemons at the top of the heap. ever hear of donald kennedy?? another coast watcher legend!! you better post a few pics of ass kicker chesty puller, or he's going to come back to kick our asses!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Superb stuff, Mark.

Ironically, I recently stumbled across the following.

http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Aircraft/VMO251/

Major Renner was apparently responsible for assembling/training available pilots to replace the "first team(s)" standing down at Cactus. His comments regarding conditions, the "new" (and difficult to maintain) Corsair, and other details were a real treat to read. Here's hoping other WIXers enjoy as well.

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

The amphibious truck with the howitzer mounted on it changes it from a DUKW to a FWCK!!!!!

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

August 7, 1942 ... The start of the Guadalcanal campaign. May all the hero's of this campaign rest in peace.

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Zero Surprise!!...