The Struggle For Guadalcanal

Paper Summary:

The paper describes the Battle of Guadalcanal and how it proved immensely advantageous to the Allied forces and diluted much of the military might of the Japanese forces. The paper explains that the historical interest in the Guadalcanal campaign is due to three factors: the combination of air, land and sea operations, the relative equality of the forces and the unusually large number of surface-to-surface naval battles. The paper stresses that although many think of Guadalcanal in terms of the land battles, there were more naval battles fought off the island in six months than the British Royal Navy fought in all of World War I.

Outline:
Location of Guadalcanal
The Guadalcanal Battle-The Background
The Land Based Campaign at Guadalcanal
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"By March 1942 Japan had attacked and occupied Philippines, Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Wake Island, New Britain, and Guam. Control over this territory gave Japan not only resources to support their military and economic operations but also the ability to threaten the supply route to Australia from Rabaul on New Britain Island secured by Japan in January 1942.
"The Battle of Midway had given a clear advantage to the US forces in the Pacific Theater. This advantage was employed in seeking control of Tulagi and Guadalcanal islands, primarily to safeguard the Australia's supply line. It is often reported that the discovery of the construction of an airfield at Guadalcanal triggered the Allied landing on the southern Solomons. In fact the decision to take control of Tulagi had already been taken [James, 2006] and the discovery of the airfield construction threatened the plans [Morrison, 1969] but Admiral King, the Chief of Naval Operations insisted that the under construction airfield justified a quicker response."

Sample of Sources Used:

• 1. Fisher, S. and Nathan, F., The Turning Point of the Pacific War- Two Views, The Battle of Midway or the Struggle for Guadalcanal, [Online] retrieved from Internet on 27th July 2006, http://www.combinedfleet.com/turningp.htm
• 2. James, D. L., The Guadalcanal Campaign, [Online] retrieved from Internet on 27th July 2006, http://www.angelfire.com/fm/odyssey/Guadalcanal.htm
• 3. Leahey, B., Guadalcanal, [Online] retrieved from Internet on 27th July 2006, http://www.harwich.edu/depts/history/HHJ/leahey.html
• 4. Morison S. E. History of United States Naval Operations in World War Two- Volume V "Guadalcanal, Little, Brown & Co, Boston, 1969
• 5. Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, History of U. S. Marine Corp Operations in World War II , Chapter 4, [Online] retrieved from Internet on 27th July 2006, http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-i-VI-4.html

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