page_title: Guadalcanal Campaign
section_title: Air battles and strengthening of the Lunga defenses
hierarchical_section_title: Guadalcanal Campaign / Air battles and strengthening of the Lunga defenses
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Marine Corps Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats head-out from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, probably in August or September 1942, to intercept incoming Japanese aircraft.
context_page_description: The Guadalcanal Campaign was fought between August 7, 1942, and February 9, 1943, in the Pacific theatre of World War II. This campaign, which was a decisive and strategically important campaign of World War II, was fought on the ground, at sea, and in the air between Allied forces against Imperial Japanese forces. The fighting took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands, and was the first major offensive launched by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.
  On August 7, 1942, Allied forces, mainly from the United States, started landings on the islands of Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Florida in the southern Solomons with the aim to make supply routes between the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand safer.
  The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the first long campaigns in the Pacific.
context_section_description: Throughout August, small numbers of U.S. aircraft and their crews continued to arrive at Guadalcanal. By the end of August, 64 aircraft of various types were stationed at Henderson Field. Air battles between the Allied aircraft at Henderson and Japanese bombers and fighters from Rabaul continued almost daily. Between 26 August and 5 September, the U.S. lost about 15 aircraft while the Japanese lost approximately 19 aircraft. More than half of the downed U.S. aircrews were rescued while most of the Japanese aircrews were never recovered. The eight-hour round trip flight from Rabaul to Guadalcanal, about 1,120 miles (1,800 km) total, made it hard for the Japanese to attack Henderson Field.
  Australians on Bougainville and New Georgia islands were often able to warn of Japanese air strikes, allowing the U.S. fighters time to take off and attack the Japanese bombers and fighters as they approached the island.
  Between 21 August and 3 September, three Marine battalions, including the 1st Raider Battalion, under Merritt A. Edson (Edson's Raiders), and the 1st Parachute Battalion from Tulagi and Gavutu went to Guadalcanal.  These units added about 1,500 troops to the original 11,000 men defending Henderson Field. The 1st Parachute Battalion, which had many dead and wounded in the Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu-Tanambogo in August, was placed under Edson's command.
  The other relocated battalion, the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5), was landed west of the Matanikau near Kokumbuna village on 27 August. They had the mission of attacking Japanese units in the area.  They faced hot sun, and strong Japanese defenses. The next morning, the Marines found that the Japanese defenders had departed during the night, so the Marines returned to the Lunga perimeter by boat. Losses in this action were 20 Japanese and 3 Marines killed.
  Small Allied naval convoys arrived at Guadalcanal on 23 August 29 August, 1 September, and 8 September. They  provided the Marines at Lunga with more food, ammunition, aircraft fuel, and aircraft technicians. The 1 September convoy also brought 392 construction engineers to work on Henderson Field.
caption: U.S. Marine F4F Wildcat fighters ascend from Henderson Field to attack incoming Japanese aircraft in late August or early September 1942.