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Guadalcanal (local name: Isatabu) is a 2,510 square mile (6 500 km²) island in the Pacific Ocean and a province of the Solomon Islands. The island became the scene of the important Guadalcanal Campaign during World War II. The island, which is mainly jungle, contains the national capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, and has a population of 109,382 (1999).

Overview

Guadalcanal is mountainous. Most of the population is along the north coast. The southern coast is known as the Weather Coast. Rainfall here is very heavy, hence its name. Guadalcanal is infested with mosquitoes, and malaria is an endemic disease.

Transport is by a road along the north coast which extends most of the length of the island. Access to the Weather Coast is on foot or via boat or helicopter. Honiara International Airport, the Solomon Islands' main airport, is just to the east of Honiara. It was formerly known as Henderson Field and was built in 1942.

Much of the northern part of the island is fringed by steeply sloping raised coral reefs. Languages spoken on this island are Tok Pisin and several different Melanesian languages.

History

Western Discovery

A Spanish expedition under Álvaro de Mendaña discovered the island in 1568. It was named by Mendaña's subordinate Pedro de Ortega after his home town in Andalusia, Guadalcanal. However, he did not spell the name consistently (using variously Guadarcana, Guarcana, and Guadalcana), and the island subsequently became known as Guadalcanar. Later it became part of the British Empire, and in 1932 the British changed the spelling to Guadalcanal.

Significance in WWII

Main Article: Guadalcanal Campaign

Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor and Singapore, Japanese forces advanced into the South Pacific occupying many islands in an attempt to build a defensive ring around their conquests and threaten the lines of communication between the United States and Australia/New Zealand reaching Guadalcanal in May 1942. When the allied forces spotted construction of an airfield on Guadacanal, the United States conducted the first amphibious landing of the conflict and one of the most hotly contested campaigns for control of the ground, sea and skies of the war. Guadalcanal became a major turning-point in the war as it stopped Japanese expansion and after four months forced the Japanese to cease trying to contest the control of the island and finally evacuate it in February 1943.

Early in the campaign, US ships would retire at night due to superior night fighting expertise of the Japanese. Immediately after landing on the island, the allies began finishing the airfield began by the Japanese, named Henderson Field after a Marine aviator killed in combat during the Battle of Midway, operational and established what became known as the Cactus Air Force. Aircraft operating from Guadalcanal over the campaign were a hodge podge of Marine, Army, Navy and allied aircraft that defended the airfield and threatened any Japanese ships that ventured into the vicinity during the daylight hours. However, at night, Japanese battleships, cruisers and destroyers would venture within shelling range of the airfield on Guadacanal and shell it throughout the night and escape back up the Slot before daybreak when allied aircraft would regain air superiority. So many ships from both sides were sunk in the many engagements in and around the Solomon Island chain that the nearby waters were referred to as Ironbottom Sound. An informative account of the Marine Corps campaign, which began on August 7, 1942, can be found in the historical novel, "Every Shape, Every Shadow" (Pale Horse Books). Many other books and even movies have been written about the Guadalcanal campaign.

The Battle of Cape Esperance was fought on October 11, 1942 off the northwest coast of Guadalcanal. In the battle, United States Navy ships intercepted and defeated a Japanese formation of ships on their way down 'the Slot' to reinforce and resupply troops on the island, but suffered losses as well. The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November marked the turning point in which Allied Naval forces took on the extremely experienced Japanese surface forces at night and forced them to withdraw after sharp action. Some Japanese viewpoints consider these engagements and the improving Allied surface capability to challenge their surface ships at night just as significant as the Battle of Midway in turning the tide against them. After six months of hard combat in and around Guadalcanal and dealing with jungle diseases that took a heavy toll of troops, Allied forces managed to halt the Japanese advance and dissuade them from contesting the control of the island finally driving the last of the Japanese troops into the sea on January 15, 1943. American authorities declared Guadalcanal secure on February 9, 1943.

Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for the battle:

• USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60), a World War II escort carrier.
• USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), an amphibious assault ship.

Interestingly, the crews of both Guadalcanals had the rare experience of capturing another warship. See those ships' pages for more information.

To date, the only Coast Guardsman recipient of the Medal of Honor is Signalman 1st Class, Douglas Albert Munro, awarded posthumously for his extraordinary heroism on September 27, 1942 at Point Cruz, Guadalcanal. Munro provided a shield and covering fire, and helped evacuate 500 besieged Marines from a beach at Point Cruz; he was killed during the evacuation.

Significance in civil war

In early 1999 long-simmering tensions between the local Gwale people on Guadalcanal and more recent migrants from the neighbouring island of Malaita, erupted into violence. The ‘Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army’, later called Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM), began terrorising Malaitans in the rural areas of the island, to make them leave their homes. About 20,000 Malaitans fled to the capital and others returned to their home island; Gwale residents of Honiara fled. The city became a Malaitan enclave and the Malaita Eagle Force took over government.

In 2003, the Pacific Forum negotiated the intervention of RAMSI or Operation Helpem Fren involving Australia and other Pacific Island Nations.

References

Frank, Richard B. Guadalcanal The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle Penquin Books, 1990

Notes

1. Hammond World Travel Atlas. Union, N.J.: Hammond World Atlas Corporation, c. 2004-2005. ISBN 0843719826. Page 245

George Sweigert, inventor of the cordless phone, was stationed on the island as part of the 145th Headquarters Company of the 37th "Buckeye" Division (Ohio).

See also

• Battle of Guadalcanal
• Guadalcanal Province

• Islands of the Solomon Islands