The Battle of Guadalcanal Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Battle of Guadalcanal - Term Paper Example However, by August 1942, the American marines landed on the Guadalcanal’s northern beaches after the firing of Navy ships ahead of them. About three months later, the Marine managed to secure the airfield, as well as about six miles wide on the beach section (Braun and Alexander 232). This paper thereby drills deep into the Battle of Guadalcanal, its operations, and scrutinizes the Allied and Japanese leadership during the war. Allied forces, predominantly from America, landed on Guadalcanal by 7th August 1942, seizing an airfield that had been under construction by the Japanese military- the airfield was later named as Henderson Field (Coggan 162). Subsequently, several attempts and efforts made by the Japanese Imperial Navy and Army tremendously failed as they used ships to deliver reinforcements to Guadalcanal, with a sole aim of recapturing the airfield. By early November, 1942, Japanese military organized a transport convoy that would take about seven thousand infantry tr oops and equipment to the island of Guadalcanal- their core intent being to make an attempt once again, which would aid their struggle to retake the airfield. According to Braun and Alexander, lots of Japanese warships and forces were allotted to attack the Henderson Field with a central aim of destroying Allied aircrafts, which posed threats to their convoy (248). After observing and learning the Japanese efforts of reinforcement and retake, the United States military forces launched warship and aircraft combats in order to defend the Henderson Fields, and hence prevent or bar the Japanese navy and ground troops from nearing the Guadalcanal area. Braun and Alexander reveals that for strategic purposes, the possession of an airfield or airbase within Guadalcanal was vital to the control of sea-line-communications between Australia and the United States (241).