The naval Battle of the Eastern Solomons took place on 24–25 August 1942 and was the third carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and the second major engagement fought between the Uni
USS Enterprise maneuvering radically under aerial attack and afire on 24 August 1942. Anti-aircraft shell bursts are visible above the carrier.
U.S. carriers Wasp (foreground), Saratoga, and Enterprise (background) operating in the Pacific south of Guadalcanal on 12 August 1942
Shōkaku, photographed from Zuikaku, underway during the battle, 24 August 1942
The disabled Ryūjō (just right of center) under high-level attack by B-17 bombers. The destroyer Amatsukaze (bottom left) is moving away from Ryujo at full speed and the Tokitsukaze is backing away from the bow of Ryūjō to evade the falling bombs.
Cactus Air Force
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The Cactus Air Force was the ensemble of Allied air power assigned to the island of Guadalcanal from August 1942 until December 1942 during the most heavily contested phases of the Guadalcanal Campaig
Aerial view of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942
A flooded coconut grove near the airfield the air wing Marines called home
General Roy Geiger (left) and Major Joe Foss, the top fighter ace on Guadalcanal
Enlisted pilots of the Tainan Kōkūtai pose at Lae in 1942. Several of these aviators would be among the top Japanese aces, including Saburō Sakai (middle row, second from left), and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (standing, first on left). These pilots fought with Allied fighter pilots during the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands campaign.