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History of Marine Corps Aviation
The Road Back - Guadalcanal
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By January 23, 1942, the Japanese had taken Rabaul, and almost immediately began to build it into their major base of operations in the eastern area of the Southwest Pacific. They viewed Rabaul as the focal point from which they could dominate New Guinea and Australia on the right, and the Solomons, New Caledonia, Fiji, and perhaps even New Zealand on the left. Little time was wasted by the Japanese and, within two months, they had pushed down this chain to Bougainville and beyond, and by early May to Tulagi in the southern Solomons.
One outcome of the Battle of the Coral Sea was that the Japanese abandoned, for the time being, their attempt to occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and simultaneously seize Tulagi. The Battle of Midway took care of step two of their planning, which was the occupation of Midway and the seizure of the western Aleutians. These two outcomes made it feasible to reassess what could be done realistically with the policy of "doing the most with the least" in the South Pacific. Admiral Ernest J. King wasted no time in Washington looking into the matter, as he had been concerned almost from the beginning of the year with what he saw as the Japanese' step three: the conquest of New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. To offset such a move, it seemed logical to go "up" the same stepping stones the enemy was already starting "down."
Efate
The planning began as early as February 18, when Adm. King successfully sold the idea of making a base out of the island of Efate in the New Hebrides. By the end of March, a force had arrived at Vila, the capital of Efate, with the mission of building an airfield. The force was composed of the 4th Defense Battalion (Reinforced), a forward echelon of MAG-24, and 500 troops of the Army's Americal Division. VMF-212, under Lieutenant Colonel Harold W. Bauer, one of the great younger leaders of Marine Aviation, was on its way from Ewa to Efate by any transportation and with any incremental detachments that could be arranged. The squadron was in place and operating by June 9 and Col. Bauer became the anchor of all the preparations to open Espiritu Santo and mount the Naval and Marine Aviation effort for the Solomons campaign.Landing at Guadalcanal
The campaign began with the Tulagi and Guadalcanal landings August 7. It was a turning point in the war against Japan, characterized by bold planning, high risk, short deadlines, almost nonexistent intelligence, inadequate shipping, dogged determination, magnificent combat performance, and exceptional stamina.Marine Aviation played a major role in all phases of the operation and, because it was an all-Marine-type landing from the initial stages, assumed the overall aviation command as the force was augmented by Army Air Corps and allied squadrons from Australia and New Zealand. From time to time, Navy fighter, dive-bomber and torpedo squadrons also operated temporarily ashore from their carriers, and rendered key assistance in beating off steady Japanese attempts to retake the island.
On August 7, there were two Marine squadrons in the South Pacific: VMF-212 at Efate, and VMO-251 newly-arrived at Espiritu Santo. VMO-251 was equipped with F4F-3Ps long-range photo planes. They had arrived from Noumea in the ratter part of July, and had barely had time to put their planes in commission before the landing. They did not receive their long-range fuel tanks until two weeks after the landing and so were not of much use in the operation. The land- based fighters and dive-bombers to support the First Marine Division (1st MarDiv) were those of the four MAG-23 squadrons and, as far as training and aircraft were concerned, it was again almost the same situation of "new pilots and old machines" tragically seen at Midway.
However, just prior to sailing from Hawaii, things began looking up for the first two squadrons to leave for Guadalcanal. VMF-223, commanded by Captain John L. Smith, received brand-new F4F-4s; and VMSB-232, under Major Richard C. Mangrum, turned in its old SBD-2s for new SBD-3s, complete with self-sealing fuel tanks and armor plate. Both squadrons embarked in the escort carrier Long Island and launched for Guadalcanal about three weeks later on August 20, from a point about 200 miles southeast of the island. The other two squadrons of the group, VMF-224, commanded by Captain Robert E. Galer, and VMSB-231, led by Major Leo R. Smith, were in about the same shape as the first two squadrons. They left Hawaii on August 15 aboard the aircraft transports Kitty Hawk and Hammondsport, and arrived at Guadalcanal on August 30.
From the very beginning of the operation, the Japanese made it clear that they intended to run an "at any cost" operation to push the Marines back into the sea. There were two large air attacks on the first day. The next day, the pattern of daily operations was established as a raid of 45 bombers sank another destroyer and a transport.
On September 8, operations became complicated when General A. A. Vandegrift was informed that the carriers and the transports, which still held most of the Marine supplies, could not stay for the third of the three promised days and would have to leave the area. To make matters worse, on the night of the 8th. Japanese naval forces almost annihilated the screening force for the transports, sinking four cruisers and heavily damaging a fifth. Until the 20th, when the first planes arrived, this daily routine of heavy bomber raids did not let up. However, in between raids, every effort was made to bring in aviation fuel and other supplies, and to do what engineering work could be rigged without equipment to improve the condition of the airfield.
On August 12, the field had 3,800 usable feet, 400 drums of aviation gasoline, and a captured Japanese radio which was used to transmit a message that the field was "ready to receive fighters and dive-bombers." At this point, it was found that the transports bringing VMF-223 and VMSB-232 were being held up at Suva because of the action on the 8th. There was also some word from the task group commander that the squadrons needed more carrier time before he could bring them forward and launch them, and that he "was writing a letter about the subject." Admiral J. S. McCain replied by dispatch that he needed fighters and dive-bombers "now" at Guadalcanal, and the ships were underway. Some pilots from 223, who were fresh out of flight school, were traded for an equal number from Col. Bauer's 212 at Efate, who had been out a little longer and were more experienced. This was done on the way to the launch point and, on the 20th, a mighty cheer went up on "the canal" when the 19 F4Fs and 12 SBDs began to land in the waning hours of the afternoon.
Cactus Air Force
Guadalcanal was undoubtedly a case of living from crisis to crisis in aviation supply, maintenance and availability of aircraft for periods that seemed interminable. As if these problems were not enough, the days were punctuated with either massive bombing raids or "Washing Machine Charlie" single bombers overhead all night.From late August 1942, when the Marine Aviation defense operation began, until the end of the immediate threat in mid-November, there were gradual increases in fighter and dive- bomber strength. While most of these came from scheduled commitments of units deployed from Hawaii or the West Coast, during the early weeks, they came from VMF-212 in Efate and VMO-251 at Espiritu Santo, as individual reinforcements on temporary stays. On the same basis, detachments from carrier squadrons flew in for periods sometimes in excess of a month. Also, the Army Air Corps operated similarly and moved pilots in from training bases in the area as soon as they had a bare minimum of training. It was an "all- hands" evolution, for sure, and it was a major factor in saving Guadalcanal and giving the nation a foothold in the Solomons which was never relinquished.
It would be incomplete, indeed, to treat this critical period of Guadalcanal without mention of those great leaders who "made it happen," the top of Marine Aviation, the Navy and the Army Air Corps. At the very top is Roy Stanley Geiger, who inspired and drove Marine Aviation to the levels of determination and stamina displayed at Guadalcanal.
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In early October, MAG-14, under Colonel Oscar Brice, relieved MAG-23 and brought VMF-121, commanded by Major L. K. Davis with Captain Joe Foss as Executive Officer; closely followed by VMSB-132 under Major Ben Robertshaw, and VMF-112, commanded by Major Paul Fontana. In mid-November, VMSB-131 and VMSB- 142, under Lieutenant Colonel Pat Moret and Major Bob Richard, respectively, rounded out the Marine units participating in the critical August- November phase of the battle. Units of the Army Air Corps and the Navy, were key participants in winning this lasting foothold in the Solomons at Guadalcanal.
December 1942 saw the beginning of Guadalcanal's establishment and build- up as the principal base for the move up the chain to zero in on Rabaul. The change didn't happen overnight, however. Air raids were somewhat less frequent, and there were daily signs of improvement in runways and taxiways. More aircraft of all types appeared in increasing numbers, and the aviation command was divided generally into a Strike Command at Henderson Field and a Fighter Command at Fighter Two.
There were many changes in command during the development of Guadalcanal as the anchor base for the reduction of the Solomons and Rabaul. Brigadier General Louis Woods relieved General Geiger in November and stayed until just before Christmas, when he was relieved by Brigadier General Pat Mulcahy. At this time, the air command was known as "Commander, Air Cactus," "Cactus" being the code name for the island.
When Woods took over, the two tactical commands were newly formed under Colonel Al Cooley as Strike Commander and Lieutenant Colonel Joe Bauer as Fighter Commander. Bauer was lost, however, in mid-November, and Lieutenant Colonel Sam Jack took the Fighter Command. By the time Mulcahy relieved Gen. Woods, Colonel Oscar Brice had taken over the Strike Command and in late January Lieutenant Colonel Ed Pugh relieved Jack as Fighter Commander, holding that job until after the assault on Munda, in early July.
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Sources:
U.S. Marine Corps Aviation, by Maj. Gen. John P. Condon, at the excellent U.S. Navy Historical Center's public domain web siteHistory
of Marine Corps Aviation in WWII
, by Robert Sherrod - the
authoritative reference work on this topic
Cactus Air Force: - Air war for Guadalcanal - The History, Men, Aircraft, and a Photo Gallery, a wonderful site
A very focused account of the difficult and heroic early months of the air campaign for Guadalcanal, from August through mid-November, 1942. Describes the important contributions made by Marine fighter pilots, Marine dive bombers, Navy pilots, and (to a lesser extent) Army Air Force P-39 pilots. |
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