Did you know the battle Guadalcanal ended on this day in 1942

2015-11-15T03:46:04-05:00

World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 15 at 2015 10:20 AM

2015-11-15T10:20:24-05:00

Those were some really tough soldiers to go through that!

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Nov 15 at 2015 10:59 AM

2015-11-15T10:59:33-05:00

Officially the end point for Operation Watchtower, the assault on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, is February 1943. SSgt Alex Robinson. The ground operation began on August 7, 1942 and ended when the Japanese finished their evacuation on February 8, 1943. I expect Japanese remnants were encountered every so often until they were all killed or captured after that point.
"The American task force split into two groups as it approached Savo Island in the early morning of 7th August 1942. The first group was designated X-RAY Guadalcanal and was made up of Combat Groups A and B and under the command od Vandegrift. Combat Group A consisted of the 5th Marine Regiment (Reinforced) minus its 2nd Battalion under Colonel Leroy P Hunt. Combat Group B consisted of the 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced) under the command of Colonel Clifton B Cates. This force was to land on Guadalcanal while a smaller force, Y-OKE (Tulagi) captured objectives on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo. It consisted of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment under Major Robert E Hill which had the objective of Florida Island. Tulagi was to be assaulted by a group under Colonel Merrit A Edson with the (and who also commanded) the 1st Raider Battalion, as well as the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (Lt Col Harold E Rosecrans) and the 3rd Defense Battalion (Colonel Robert Pepper). The Gavutu and Tanambogo group consisted of the 1st Parachute Battalion under Major Robert H Williams. Y-OKE was under the command of Brigadier General William H Rupertus, the Assistant Divisional Commander. The division actually only had two regiments as the third regiment (7th Marines) had been assigned duties in British Samoa, but was not as weak as this situation implied as a number of specialised units had been added to augment it for this operation. This included the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines (from the 2nd Marine Division), 3rd Defense Battalion, 1st Raider Battalion and 1st Parachute Battalion. There were in fact a total of 1,959 officers and 18,146 enlisted men and sailors in the amphibious landing force."
The beginning of December 1942 saw the United States move to a more offensive stance with the large-scale reinforcement of Guadalcanal by US Army units, particularly the 'Americal' Division (an amalgam of 'America' and 'New Caledonia' - the division was formed entirely outside the United States) under Major General Patch.
The Japanese evacuated their remaining force in early February 1943 with the last unit leaving on February 8, 1943.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_guadalcanal.html

Operation Watchtower: The Battle for Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943)

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Nov 15 at 2015 12:34 PM

2015-11-15T12:34:43-05:00

I thought you might mean the end of the battles on the Solomon Islands instead of Guadalcanal SSgt Alex Robinson Operation Cherry Blossom which was the battle on Bougainville kicked off on November 1, 1943 but it din't end until March 1944.