The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. It was the first major land offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
United States Marines rest in the field during the Guadalcanal campaign.
U.S. Marines debark from LCP(L)s onto Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942.
Japanese cruiser Yūbari shines searchlights towards the northern force during the night battle around Savo Island on 9 August 1942. In the course of this action 4 allied cruisers were sunk and one was heavily damaged for almost no loss to the Japanese, and the transport fleet was left exposed to further attack.
Dead Japanese soldiers on the sandbar at the mouth of Alligator Creek, Guadalcanal after the Battle of the Tenaru
Guadalcanal is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second-largest by population. The island is mainly covered in dense tropical rainforest and has a mountainous hinterland.
Honiara is the largest city of Guadalcanal and the capital of Solomon Islands.
Japanese soldiers, killed while assaulting US Marine positions at the mouth of Alligator Creek
Guadalcanal American Memorial
Memorials in Vilu War Museum
