Guadalcanal: The First Offensive

On August 7, 1942, American ground troops went on the offensive for the first time against the Japanese Army. Making an amphibious landing, the First Marine division attacked Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. On the first day they caught the enemy unawares and were able to take the airfield. They renamed it Henderson after a marine pilot killed at Midway.

The Japanese quickly retaliated by defeating the Australian Navy at the Battle of Savo Island and causing the American naval forces to retire. At the same time Lt. Gen. Harikuchi Hyakutake began to land the 50,000 men sent to throw the Americans off the island. For the 18,000 marines left under Maj. General Mark Vandergrift quick victory appeared to be turning into defeat.

Using first hand accounts and after action reports, John Miller, Jr. working with the historians of the Army's Historical Division have carefully reconstructed the Guadalcanal campaign. The work includes eyewitness descriptions of the mass Japanese attacks on the Ilu River, the defense of Bloody Ridge and the turning point after the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal when the army and the marines went irrevocably into the offensive in the Pacific.

A specially designed section of detailed situation maps complements the authoritative text.