Battle for Henderson Field

Battle for Henderson Field
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
Dead soldiers from the Japanese 16th and 29th Infantry Regiments cover the battlefield after the failed assaults on 25–26 October.
Date 23–26 October 1942 Location 9°26′51″S 160°2′56″E / 9.44750°S 160.04889°E / -9.44750; 160.04889 (Henderson's Airfield) Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Vandegrift William Rupertus	Harukichi Hyakutake
Units involved
1st Marine Division 164th Infantry Regiment 821st Engineering Aviation Battalion[1]	17th Army
Strength
23,088[2]	20,000[3]
Casualties and losses
61–86 killed, 1 tugboat, 1 patrol boat sunk, 3 aircraft destroyed[4][5]	2,200–3,000 killed, 1 cruiser sunk, 14 aircraft destroyed[6]

The Battle for Henderson Field, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal or Battle of Lunga Point by the Japanese, took place from 23 to 26 October 1942 on and around Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The battle was a land, sea, and air battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and was fought between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy and Allied forces, mainly U.S. Marines and Army. The battle was the last of three major land offensives conducted by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign.

In the battle, U.S. Marine and Army forces repulsed an attack by the Japanese 17th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Harukichi Hyakutake. The American forces were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which the Allies had captured from the Japanese in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Hyakutake's force was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island. His soldiers conducted numerous assaults over three days at various locations around the Lunga perimeter, all repulsed with heavy Japanese losses. At the same time, Allied aircraft operating from Henderson Field successfully defended American positions on Guadalcanal from attacks by Japanese naval air and sea forces.

The battle was the last serious ground offensive conducted by Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. They attempted to deliver further reinforcements, but failed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, and Japan conceded defeat in the struggle for the island and evacuated many of its remaining forces by the first week of February 1943.