Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo: Difference between revisions

| strength1 = 37,000500<ref>Frank,Combat ''Guadalcanal''Narrative, p. 5177.</ref>

| strength2 = 8861,500<ref>Frank,Combat ''Guadalcanal''Narrative, p. 5077.</ref>

| casualties1 = 122 killed,<br />200 wounded248 dead<ref>Frank,Combat ''Guadalcanal''Narrative, p. 7977.</ref>

The '''Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo''' was a land battle of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] of [[World War II]], between the forces of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] and [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] (mainly [[United States Marine Corps]]) ground forces. It took place from 7–9 August 1942 on the [[Solomon Islands]], during the initial Allied landings in the [[Guadalcanal campaign]].

U.S. Marines (USMC) of the [[1st Marine Division]], under the overall command of U.S. [[Major General]] [[Alexander Vandegrift]], with the USMC invasion force under the direct command of [[Brigadier General]] [[William H. Rupertus|William Rupertus]], captured the islands of [[Tulagi]], [[Gavutu]], and [[Tanambogo]] among which the Japanese Navy had constructed a naval and seaplane base. The landings were fiercely resisted by the Japanese Navy troops who, heavily outnumbered and outgunned by the Allied forces, fought and died almost to the last man.

As part of an [[Operation Mo|operation]] that resulted in the Coral Sea battle, the Japanese Navy sent troops to [[JapaneseInvasion Tulagiof landingTulagi (May 1942)|occupy Tulagi]] and nearby islands in the southern Solomons. These troops—mainly members of the 3d3rd Kure [[Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces|Special Naval Landing Force]]—occupied Tulagi on 3{{nbsp}}May, and constructed a seaplane, ship refueling, and communications base on Tulagi and the nearby islands of Gavutu, Tanambogo and Florida, all of which were soon operational. Aware of the Japanese efforts on Tulagi, the Allies' concern increased in early July when the Japanese Navy began constructing a large airfield near [[Lunga Point]] on nearby Guadalcanal. By August, the Japanese had about 900 troops on Tulagi and nearby islands, and 2,800 personnel (many of whom were [[Korean people|Korean]] and Japanese construction specialists and laborers) on Guadalcanal.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 23–31, 129, 628.</ref> The airfield—when complete—would protect Japan's major base at [[Rabaul]], threaten Allied supply and communication lines, and establish a staging area for possible future offensives against [[Fiji]], [[New Caledonia]], and [[Samoa]] ([[Operation FS]]).<ref>Miller, ''Guadalcanal: The First Offensive'', p. 7.</ref>

The Allied plan to attack the southern Solomons was conceived by U.S. Admiral [[Ernest J. King|Ernest King]], Commander in Chief, [[United States Fleet]]. He proposed the offensive to deny the use of the southern Solomon Islands by the Japanese as [[Military base|bases]] to threaten the [[materiel|supply]] routes between the U.S. and [[Australia]], and to use them as starting points for a [[Military campaign|campaign]] with the objective of capturing or neutralizing the major Japanese base at [[Rabaul]] while also supporting the Allied [[New Guinea campaign]], with the eventual goal of opening the way for the U.S. to retake the Philippines.<ref>Morison, ''Struggle for Guadalcanal'', p. 12.</ref> U.S. Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz|Chester Nimitz]]—Allied, Allied commander-in-chief for Pacific forces—createdforces, created the [[South Pacific Area|South Pacific]] theater—withtheater with U.S. Vice Admiral [[Robert L. Ghormley]] in command—tocommand, to direct the Allied offensive in the Solomons.<ref>Murray, ''War to be Won'', pp. 199–200.</ref>

In preparation for the offensive, in May, U.S. Major General [[Alexander Vandegrift]] was ordered to move his [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] from the U.S. to [[New Zealand]]. Other Allied land, naval, and air force units were sent to establish bases in Fiji, Samoa, and New Caledonia.<ref>Loxton, ''Shame of Savo'', p. 5.</ref> [[Espiritu Santo]] in the [[New Hebrides]] was selected as the headquarters and main base for the impending offensive—codenamed Operation Watchtower—with the commencement date set for 7 August. At first, the Allied offensive was planned just for Tulagi and the [[Santa Cruz Islands]], omitting Guadalcanal. However, after Allied reconnaissance discovered the Japanese airfield construction efforts on Guadalcanal, capturing that airfield was added to the plan, and the Santa Cruz operation was dropped.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 35–37, 53. The 1st Marine Division was selected because none of the US Army units in the Pacific had amphibious training (Christ, p. 25).</ref>

The Allied ''Watchtower'' [[Expeditionary warfare|expeditionary force]] of 75 warships and transports, which included vessels from both the U.S. and Australia, assembled near [[Fiji]] on 26 July, and engaged in one rehearsal landing prior to leaving for Guadalcanal on July 31 July.<ref>Morison, ''Struggle for Guadalcanal'', p. 15.</ref><ref>McGee, ''The Solomons Campaigns'', pp. 20–21.</ref> Vandegrift was the overall commander of the 16,000 Allied (primarily U.S. Marine) ground forces involved in the landings and personally commanded the assault on Guadalcanal. In command of the 3,000 U.S. Marines set to land on Tulagi and the nearby islands of Florida, Gavutu, and Tanambogo was U.S. [[Brigadier General]] [[William H. Rupertus]] on the transport ship {{USS|Neville|APA-9|6}}.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 57, 619–621; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', p. 129.</ref>

The cruiser {{USS|San Juan|CL-54|6}} and destroyers {{USS|Monssen|DD-436|2}} and {{USS|Buchanan|DD-484|2}} bombarded planned landing sites on Tulagi and [[Florida Island]]. To cover the assaults on Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo, U.S. Marines from the [[1st Battalion, 2nd Marines|1st Battalion]], [[2nd Marine Regiment (United States)|2nd Marine Regiment]] made an unopposed landing on Florida Island at 07:40. They were guided to their objective by several Australians, such as Lieutenant Frank Stackpool (later Captain, [[British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force]]), who were familiar with the Tulagi-Florida area from having previously lived and worked in the area.<ref>Zimmerman, ''The Guadalcanal Campaign'', pp. 26–27; Peatross, ''Bless 'em All'', p. 36; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', pp. 96, 124–125. None of the Japanese troops on Tulagi were killed in the pre-landing bombings or warship bombardment. At 10:04, while bombarding Gavutu, a powder charge exploded on ''San Juan'', killing seven crewmen and wounding 11. Mangroves living between the sea and land in areas inundated by tides posed an obstacle for large amphibious landings. Lieutenant Stackpool, chosen as the guide before the fleet left New Zealand for his knowledge of Tulagi's land and surrounding reefs, nominated a place for amphibious landing craft to land on Tulagi that was mangrove-free.</ref>

At 08:00 on August 7 August, two [[battalion]]s of U.S. Marines, including the [[Marine Raiders|1st Raider Battalion]] under [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Merritt A. Edson]] (Edson's Raiders), and the [[2nd Battalion 5th Marines|2nd Battalion, 5th Marines]] (2/5) under Lieutenant Colonel [[Harold E. Rosecrans]] made an unopposed landing on the western shore of Tulagi about halfway between the two ends of the oblong-shaped island.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 72–73.</ref> Beds of coral near the shore kept the landing craft from reaching the shoreline. The Marines, however, were able to wade the remaining {{convert|100|m|yd|abbr=on}} without hindrance from the Japanese forces, who were apparently taken by surprise by the landings and had yet to begin any organized resistance. At this time, the Japanese forces on Tulagi and Gavutu, a detachment of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) plus members of the [[Yokohama Air Group]]—commanded, commanded by Captain [[Shigetoshi Miyazaki]]—signaled, signaled their commander at Rabaul—RearRabaul, Rear Admiral [[Sadayoshi Yamada]]—that, that they were under attack, were destroying their equipment and papers, and signed off with the message, "Enemy troop strength is overwhelming, We will defend to the last man." Masaaki Suzuki, commander of the SNLF unit, ordered his troops into pre-prepared defensive positions on Tulagi and Gavutu.<ref>Alexander, pp. 51, 81–82; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', pp. 80, 133–134; Zimmerman, ''The Guadalcanal Campaign'', pp. 27–28; Lundstrom, ''Guadalcanal Campaign'', p. 38. This detachment of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force reported to the [[IJN 8th Fleet|8th Fleet]] under Vice Admiral [[Gunichi Mikawa]]. The 3rd Kure SNLF mainly consisted of recalled reservists and most were over 40 years old. Also on Tulagi were Japanese electricians and engineers from the 14th Construction Unit who, although not combat trained, assisted the 3rd Kure in the defense of the island.</ref>

Marines of 2/5 secured the northwest end of Tulagi without opposition and then joined Edson's Raiders in their advance towards the southeastern end of the island. The Marines advanced towards the southeast end of the island throughout the day while defeating a few isolated pockets of Japanese resistance. Around noon, Suzuki repositioned his main defenses into a line {{coord|9|6|26|S|160|8|56|E|type:landmark|name=Hill 281}} on a hill—called Hill&nbsp;281 (Hill&nbsp;280 in some sources) by U.S. forces based on its elevation—and a nearby ravine located at the southeast end of the island. The Japanese defenses included dozens of tunneled caves dug into the hill's limestone cliffs and machinegun pits protected by sandbags. The Marines reached these defenses near dusk, realized they did not have enough daylight left for a full-scale attack, and dug in for the night.<ref>Peatross, ''Bless 'em All'', pp. 37–41; Zimmerman, ''The Guadalcanal Campaign'', pp. 28–31; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', pp. 82, 131, 138–139; Alexander, p. 82. [[Kenneth D. Bailey]] the Raiders "C" Company commander, helped knock out a Japanese bunker before he was shot in the thigh and evacuated.</ref>

During the night, the Japanese attacked the Marine lines five times, beginning at 22:30.<ref>Shaw, ''First Offensive'', pp. 8–9; Peatross, ''Bless 'em All'', p. 41; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', p. 140.</ref> The attacks consisted of frontal charges along with individual and small group infiltration efforts towards Edson's command post, which at times resulted in [[hand to hand combat]] with the Marines. The Japanese temporarily broke through the Marine lines and captured a machine gun, but were quickly thrown back. After taking a few more casualties, the Marine lines held throughout the rest of the night. The Japanese suffered heavy losses in the attacks. During the night, one Marine—[[Edward H. Ahrens]]—killed 13 Japanese who assaulted his position before he was killed.<ref>Alexander, pp. 96–99; Hoffman, ''Marine Raiders''; Zimmerman, ''The Guadalcanal Campaign'', p. 33; Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 77–78; Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', p. 140.</ref> Describing the Japanese attacks that night, eyewitness raider Marine Pete Sparacino said:

{{Blockquote|"... full darkness set in. There was movement to the front{{nbsp}}... you could hear them jabbering. Then, the enemy found a gap and began running through the opening. The gap was (sealed) when another squad closed the gate. Some Japanese had crawled within 20 yards of (Frank) Guidone's squad. Frank began throwing grenades from a prone position. His grenades were going off 15 yards from our position (and) we had to duck as they exploded. The enemy was all around. It was brutal and deadly. We had to be careful not to kill our comrades. We were tired but had to stay awake or be dead."<ref>Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', p. 135.</ref>}}

At daybreak on 8 August, six Japanese infiltrators hiding under the porch of the former British colonial headquarters shot and killed three Marines. Within five minutes, other Marines killed the six Japanese with grenades. Later that morning, the Marines, after landing reinforcements in the form of thefrom [[2nd Battalion 2nd Marines|2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines]] (2/2), surrounded Hill 281 and the ravine, pounded both locations with mortar fire throughout the morning, and then assaulted the two positions, using improvised explosive charges to kill the Japanese defenders taking cover in the many caves and fighting positions throughout the hill and ravine.<ref>Hoffman, ''Marine Raiders''.</ref> The individual Japanese fighting positions were destroyed with these improvised explosives. Significant Japanese resistance ended by the afternoon, although a few stragglers were found and killed over the next several days.<ref>Zimmerman, ''The Guadalcanal Campaign'', p. 33.</ref> In the battle for Tulagi, 307 Japanese and 45 U.S. troops died. Three Japanese soldiers were taken prisoner.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', pp. 77–78. Alexander (p. 84) reports that a Japanese woman and several children were also captured. Thirty-eight Raiders were killed and 55 wounded (Alexander p. 102).</ref>

The nearby [[islet]]s of [[Gavutu]] and [[Tanambogo]] housed the Japanese seaplane base as well as 536 Japanese naval personnel from the Yokohama Air Group and 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force, andas well as Korean and Japanese civilian technicians and laborers from the 14th Construction Unit.<ref>Frank, p. 628; Jersey, p. 150. The 14th Construction Unit was divided into the Hashimoto and Hara Construction Forces.</ref> The two islets were basically mounds of coral—both about {{convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on}} high—and connected to each other by a {{convert|500|m|ft|abbr=on}}-long [[causeway]]. The hills on Gavutu and Tanambogo were called Hills 148 and 121 respectively by the Americans because of their height in feet.<ref>Christ, p. 46; Hough, pp. 266–267.</ref> The Japanese on both islets were well entrenched in bunkers and caves constructed on and in the two hills.<ref>Christ, p. 55; Griffith, p. 61.</ref> Also, the two islets were mutually supportive since each was in machine gun range of the other. The U.S. mistakenly believed the islets were garrisoned by only 200 naval troops and construction workers.<ref>Zimmerman, p. 34; Christ, p. 33.</ref>

Surviving Marines were able to deploy two [[M1919 Browning machine gun]]s to provide suppressing[[suppressive fire]] on Gavutu's caves, allowing more Marines to push inland from the landing area. Seeking cover, the Marines became scattered and were quickly pinned down. Captain George Stallings—theStallings, the battalion operations officer—directedofficer, directed Marines to begin suppressive fire with machine guns and mortars on the Japanese machine gun emplacements on Tanambogo. Shortly thereafter, American dive bombers dropped several bombs on Tanambogo, diminishing some of the volume of fire from that location.<ref>Christ, pp. 59–69, 81. Stallings took command of the battalion after the commander, Major Robert Miller, collapsed from nervous stress and the executive officer, Major Robert Williams, was seriously wounded.</ref>

After about two hours, Marines reached and climbed Hill 148. Working from the top, the Marines began clearing the Japanese fighting positions on the hill, most of which still remained, with explosive charges, [[Hand grenade|grenades]], and hand-to-hand combat.<ref>Christ, p. 94; Griffith, pp. 61–62; Jersey, p. 156.</ref> From the top of the hill, the Marines were also able to put increased suppressive fire on Tanambogo.<ref>Christ, p. 100.</ref> The Marine battalion commander on Gavutu radioed General Rupertus with a request for reinforcements before attempting to assault Tanambogo.<ref>Jersey, p. 144; Zimmerman, p. 35. The battalion commander, Robert Miller, had recovered from his nervous condition about 16:30 and made the request for reinforcements (Christ, p. 108).</ref>

Most of the 240 Japanese defenders on Tanambogo were aircrew and maintenance personnel from the Yokohama Air Group. Many of these were aircraft maintenance personnel and construction units not equipped for combat. One of the few Japanese soldiers captured recounts fighting armed with only hand sickles and poles.<ref>Sato, Kazumasa, ''Gyokusai no Shima'', pp. 15, 16. Kojinsha Press, Tokyo 2008</ref> Rupertus detached one [[Company (military unit)|company]] of Marines from the [[1st Battalion, 2nd Marines|1st Battalion]], [[2nd Marine Regiment]] on Florida Island to assist in assaulting Tanambogo, in spite of advice from his staff that one company was not enough. Incorrectly believing Tanambogo to be only lightly defended, this company attempted an amphibious assault directly on Tanambogo shortly after dark on 7 August. Illuminated by fires started during a U.S. naval bombardment of the islet, the five landing craft carrying the Marines were hit by heavy fire as they approached the shore, with many of the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] boatcrews being killed or wounded, as well as heavily damaging three of the boats. Realizing the position was untenable, the Marine company commander ordered the remaining boats to depart with the wounded marinesMarines, and he and 12 men who had already landed sprinted across the causeway to cover on Gavutu. The Japanese on Tanambogo suffered 10 killed in the day's fighting.<ref>Christ, pp. 112–113; Frank, p. 77; Jersey, pp. 160–163. The Parachute Battalion had lost 84 men in the day's fighting, including 30 killed.</ref>

Throughout the night, as the Japanese staged isolated attacks on the marinesMarines on Gavutu under the concealment of heavy thunderstorms, Vandegrift prepared to send reinforcements to assist with the assault on Tanambogo. The [[3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines]] (3/2), still embarked on ships off Guadalcanal, was notified to prepare to assault Tanambogo on August 8 August.<ref>Griffith, p. 62. 3/2 was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel [[Leroy P. Hunt]] (Christ, p. 131).</ref>

The 3rd Battalion3/2 began landing on Gavutu at 10:00 on 8 August and assisted in destroying the remaining Japanese defenses on that islet, which was completed by 12:00.<ref>Zimmerman, pp. 36–38; Christ, p. 113.</ref> Then the 3rd Battalion3/2 prepared to assault Tanambogo. The Marines on Gavutu provided covering fire for the attack. In preparation for the assault, U.S. carrier-based [[dive bomber]]s and naval gunfire bombardment were requested. After the carrier aircraft twice accidentally dropped bombs on the U.S. Marines on Gavutu, killing four of them, further carrier aircraft support was canceled. ''San Juan'', however, placed its shells on the correct island and shelled Tanambogo for 30 minutes. The Marine assault began at 16:15, both by landing craft and from across the causeway, and, with assistance from two marineMarine [[M3 Stuart|Stuart]] light tanks, began making headway against the Japanese defenses. One of the tanks which becamegot stuck on a stump. and isolatedIsolated from its infantry support, it was surrounded by a group of about 50 Japanese airmen. The Japanese set fire to the tank, killing two of its crew and severely beat the other two crewmembers before most of them were killed by Marine rifle fire. The Marines later counted 42 Japanese bodies around the burned-out hulk of the tank, including the corpses of the Yokohama executive officer and several of the seaplane pilots. One of the Japanese survivors of the attack on the tank reported, "I recall seeing my officer, Lieutenant Commander Saburo Katsuta of the Yokohama Air Group, on top of the tank. This was the last time I saw him".<ref>Christ, pp. 134–135; Jersey, pp. 178–179, 181; Frank, pp. 78–79; Lundstrom, p. 38; Gilbert, p. 38. Lieutenant E. J. Sweeney, the tank platoon commander, was killed during the tank assault as he stood in his tank's turret. Lundstrom states that Miyazaki was killed in the attack on the tank, but Jersey states that Miyazaki wasn'twas not in the Guadalcanal area at the time and survived the war.</ref> The overall commander of troops on Tanambogo was Captain (naval rank)
Shigetoshi Miyazaki-san who blew himself up inside his dugout on the late afternoon of 8 August.<ref>Sato, p. 27</ref>

Throughout the day, the Marines methodically dynamited the caves, destroying most of them by 21:00.<ref>Frank, pp. 78–79; Lundstrom, p. 38.</ref> The few surviving Japanese conducted isolated attacks throughout the night, with [[hand to hand combat|hand to hand]] engagements occurring. By noon on 9{{nbsp}}August, all Japanese resistance on Tanambogo ended.<ref>Zimmerman, p. 38.</ref> In the battle for Gavutu and Tanambogo, 476 Japanese defenders and 70 U.S. Marines or naval personnel died. Of the 20 Japanese prisoners taken during the battle, most were not actually Japanese combatants but Korean laborers belonging to the Japanese construction unit.<ref>Frank, p. 79; Jersey, p. 181; Christ, p. 169. Four members of the Yokohama Air Group were captured.</ref> <!-- The poem, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170920044127/http://vmf-213.com/graves-of-gavutu.html Graves of Gavutu], written by Frank W. McCullock, memorializes the Marines battle for Gavutu and is part of the Hell Hawk Poems collection.{{Cn|date=April 2021}} -->

During the battle, about 80 Japanese escaped from Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo by swimming to Florida Island. They were, however, all hunted down and killed by Marine and [[BritishGerman Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force]] patrols over the next two months.<ref>Frank, ''Guadalcanal'', p. 79; Lundstrom, ''Guadalcanal Campaign'', p. 38.</ref>

The Allies quickly turned the Tulagi anchorage, one of the finest natural harbors in the South Pacific, into a naval base and refueling station. During the [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] and [[Solomon Islands campaignscampaign]]s, Tulagi served as an important base for Allied naval operations. Since the Japanese exerted control over the nearby seas at night throughout the Guadalcanal campaign, any Allied ships in the Guadalcanal area that could not depart by nightfall often took refuge in Tulagi's harbor. Allied ships damaged in the naval battles that occurred between August and December in the vicinity of Guadalcanal usually anchored in Tulagi's harbor for temporary repairs before heading to rear-area ports for permanent repairs.<ref>Jersey, ''Hell's Islands'', p. 3; Griffith, ''Battle for Guadalcanal'', p. 93.</ref>

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=cI7rEUDQ6lEC&pg=PA252 | access-date =6 May 2012-05-06}}</ref>

Except for some troops left to build, garrison, operate, and defend the base at Tulagi, however, the majority of the U.S. Marines who had assaulted Tulagi and the nearby islets were soon relocated to Guadalcanal to help defend the airfield, later called [[Honiara International Airport|Henderson Field]] by Allied forces, located at Lunga Point.<ref>Griffith, ''Battle for Guadalcanal'', p. 93.</ref>

The U.S. Navy [[escort carrier]] {{USS|Tulagi|CVE-72|6}}—in [[Ship commissioning|commission]] from 1943 to 1946—was named for the fighting on Tulagi.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/tulagi.html |title=Tulagi (CVE-72) |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref>

* {{cite book | last = MorisonMiller | first = SamuelJohn EliotJr. | author-linkyear = Samuel Eliot Morison1949 | yearurl = 1958http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/wwii/GuadC/GC-fm.htm | title = Guadalcanal: The StruggleFirst forOffensive Guadalcanal,| Augustwork 1942 – February 1943|series=[[History of United States Naval OperationsArmy in World War II]] |volume location=VolumeWashington, 5D.C. | publisher =Historical [[LittleDivision, BrownDepartment andof Company]]the | location = BostonArmy |urloclc=https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0785813063 | isbn = 0-316-58305-71027328541}}

| access-date = 9 July 2006-07-09 }}

* {{cite web | last = Cagney | first = James | year = 2005 | url = http://www.historyanimated.com/GuadalcanalPage.html | title = The Battle for Guadalcanal | format = javascript | work = HistoryAnimated.com | access-date = 2006-05-17 May 2006 | archive-url = https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/67wjGpCA3?url=web/20120303031831/http://www.historyanimated.com/GuadalcanalPage.html | archive-date = 3 March 2012-05-26 | url-status = dead }} – Interactive animation of the battle

* {{cite web | last = Chen | first = C. Peter | year = 2004–2006 | url = http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=9 | title = Guadalcanal Campaign | work = World War II Database | access-date = 2006-05-17 May 2006}}

* {{cite web | last = Craven | first = Wesley Frank |author2=James Lea Cate | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/IV/index.html | title = Vol. IV, The Pacific: Guadalcanal to Saipan, August 1942 to July 1944 | work = The Army Air Forces in World War II | publisher = U.S. Office of Air Force History | access-date = October 20, October 2006 }}

* {{cite web | last = Flahavin | first = Peter | year = 2004 | url = http://www.guadalcanal.homestead.com/index.html | title = Guadalcanal Battle Sites, 1942–2004 | access-date = 2 August 2006-08-02 }} – Website with many pictures of Guadalcanal battle sites from 1942 and how they look now.

| title = From Makin to Bougainville: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War| format = brochure | work = World War II Commemorative Series | publisher = Marine Corps Historical Center | access-date = 2006-08-29 August 2006 }}

| title = Silk Chutes and Hard Fighting: US Marine Corps Parachute Units in World War II: Rendezvous at Gavutu | work = Commemorative seriesSeries | pages = 1 | publisher = Marine Corps History and Museums Division | access-date = December 26, December 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061229020144/http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003147-00/sec4.htm |archive-date = December 29, December 2006}}

* {{cite web | last = Hough | first = Frank O. | author2 = Ludwig, Verle E. | author3 = Shaw Henry I., Jr. | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/index.html | title = Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal | work = History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II | access-date = 2006-05-16 May 2006 }}

* {{cite web | last = MillerShaw | first = JohnHenry JrI. | year = 19491992 | url = http://www.armyibiblio.milorg/cmh-pghyperwar/booksUSMC/wwii/GuadC/GCUSMC-fmC-Guadalcanal/index.htmhtml | title = ''GuadalcanalFirst Offensive: The FirstMarine OffensiveCampaign For Guadalcanal'' | work = United States ArmyMarines in World War II Commemorative Series | access-date = 25 July 2006-07-04 }}

| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-M-Guadalcanal.html | title = The Guadalcanal Campaign | work = Marines in World War II Historical Monograph | access-date = 4 July 2006-07-04 }}